EPISCOPI  S.JOSEPH 


SERMONS 


SERMONS 


ECCLESIASTICAL  SUBJECTS. 


HENRY     EDWARD, 

ARCHBI.SHOP   OF   WESTMINSTER. 


AMERICAN  EDITION. 


NEW  YORK : 
THE  CATHOLIC  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

9  WARRF.N  STRKKT. 

1873- 


/(Jill 


CONTENTS. 


i. 

THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD: 

PAGE 

At  the  Opening  of  the  Church  of  the  Immaculate  ^Conception, 
Lanark,  Nov.  10,  1859        .        .,.',...      1 

•  H.'. 
II. 

THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUI?? 

On  the  two-hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  Saint,  at  St.  Ed- 
ward's, Westminster,  Sept.  27,  18G1     ,        •        .        ,        ,    85 

III. 
ST.  VINCENTS  LOVE  OF  SOULS: 

Within  the  same  Octave  .        .        .        .        «        §        §        ,    C5 

IV. 
THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT: 

Within  the  same  Octave     t        .•••..,    93 


V. 

THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS: 
In  San  Carlo,  Rome,  18C-1   ........  115 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD: 

At  the  opening  of  the  Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception, 
Lanark,  Nov.  10,  1859. 


TO 


EGBERT  MONTEITH,  ESQ.,  OF  CARSTAIRS. 


DEAR  MR.  MONTEITH, 

No  one  can  feel  more  than  I  do  how  little 
worthy  the  following  Sermon  is  as  a  statement  of  the 
great  truths  contained  in  it;  and  but  for  the  wish  of 
others,  I  should  have  rather  let  it  pass  with  the  day 
which  called  for  it.  But  if  it  shall  help  to  keep  in  your 
mind  the  happiness  of  a  day  in  which  you  made  your 
beautiful  and  noble  offering  to  the  Church  of  God  in 
Scotland,  or  to  show  to  so  much  as  one  of  the  many 
who,  though  '  not  of  us,'  were  with  us  that  day,  that  the 
true  Headship  and  Sovereignty  of  Jesus  Christ  over  His 
kingdom  is  to  be  found  alone  in  the  One  Church  which 
is  Catholic  and  Roman,  I  shall  not  regret  letting  it,  with 
all  its  insufficiency,  go  abroad. 

Believe  me  always 

Very  sincerely  yours, 


H.  E.  MANNING. 


St.  Mary  of  the  Angelij,  Bayswater, 
Christmas  1859. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE 
WORD. 


This  is  My  covenant  with  them,  saith  the  Lord :  My  Spirit  that 
is  in  thee,  and  My  words  that  I  have  put  in  thy  mouth,  shall 
not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed, 
nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  eaith  the  Lord,  from 
henceforth  and  for  ever.  ISAIAS  lix.  21. 

THE  glory  of  Israel  had  departed,  for  '  the  word  of 
the  Lord  was  precious  in  those  days;  there  was  EO 
manifest  vision  :!l  '  the  prophets  prophesied  false- 
hood, and  the  priests  clapped  their  hands,  and  the 
people  loved  such  things.'2  The  illuminations  of  the 
early  days  of  Israel  were  gone,  the  visitations  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  were  few,  and  the  messages  of  the  word 
of  the  Lord  were  seldom  heard ;  for  '  truth  had  fallen 
down  in  the  streets'  of  Jerusalem,  '  and  equity  could 
not  come  in.'3  The  people  of  God  were  without 
guide  and  without  teacher.  They  wandered  out  of 
the  way  of  the  Lord :  Jerusalem  was  full  of  blood, 
1  1  Kings  iii.  1.  *  Jercmias  v.  31.  '  Isaias  lix.  1*. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

the  covenant  of  the  Lord  was  forgotten,  and  the  Tem- 
ple of  the  Lord  was  profaned. 

And  it  was  at  such  a  time,  when  Israel  killed 
the  prophets,  and  stoned  those  that  were  sent  unto 
her,  that  the  word  of  God  came  to  Isaias,  and  he 
said :  '  Thy  teachers  shall  not  flee  away  from  thee 
any  more,  hut  thine  eyes  shall  see  thy  teacher,  and 
thine  ears  shall  hear  the  word  of  one  admonishing 
thee  hehind  thy  back,  saying  :  This  is  the  way ;  walk 
ye  in  it,  and  go  not  aside,  neither  to  the  right  hand 
nor  to  the  left.'4  '  All  thy  children  shall  he  taught 
of  the  Lord.'5  They  shall  follow  no  more  any  human 
teachers,  hut  a  divine  :  no  more,  teachers  that  can 
be -removed,  but  one  that  shall  be  perpetual:  'for 
this  is  My  covenant,  saith  the  Lord  :  My  Spirit  that 
is  in  thee,  and  My  word  that  I  have  put  in  thy 
mouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out 
of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of 
thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  and 
for  ever.'  That  is,  there  shall  come  a  day  when  thou 
shalt  have  a  teacher  in  the  midst  of  thee  who  shall 
not  err,  who  cannot  mislead,  whom  thou  shalt  follow 
in  safety ;  for  '  a  path  and  a  way  shall  be  there, 
and  it  shall  be  called  the  holy  way ;  the  unclean 
shall  not  pass  over  it ;  and  this  shall  be  unto  you 

«  Isaias  xxx.  20,  21.  *  Ibid.  liv.  13. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.  5 

a  straight  way,  so  that  fools' — the  simple  and  the 
unwise — '  shall  not  err  therein.'6 

How,  then,  were  these  great  words  of  the  prophet 
fulfilled  ?  They  were  accomplished  when  the  Word 
of  God  became  incarnate,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  de- 
scended upon  the  Incarnate  Word — when  '  the  Word, 
which  in  the  beginning  was  with  God  and  was  God, 
was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,'7 — when,  being 
manifested  by  His  Incarnation,  the  Eternal  Word 
stood  up  in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  and  read  out 
of  this  book  of  the  prophet  Isaias  :  '  The  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  is  upon  Me :  wherefore  He  hath  anointed 
Me  to  preach  the  Gospel :  to  the  poor  He  hath  sent 
Me.  This  day  this  Scripture  is  fulfilled  in  your 
ears.'8  The  Eternal  Word  of  God,  incarnate  and 
anointed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  rose  up  in  the  midst 
of  His  people  Israel,  to  be  their  Teacher  and  their 
Guide,  and  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  God  were  re- 
vealed to  dwell  perpetually  in  the  midst  of  His 
Church.  This,  then,  was  the  first  fulfilment  of  the 
prophecy ;  and  for  three-and-thirty  years  the  Word 
and  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelt  in  Israel.  Once  more 
the  word  of  God  was  heard  throughout  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem.  There  was  not  only  a  prophet,  but  the 
Lord  of  the  prophets ;  not  a  seer,  but  He  by  whom 

«  Isaias  xxxv.  8.        '  Bt.  John  i.  1,  14.       •  St.  Imke  ir.  18,  21. 


0  THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

the  seers  were  illuminated.  He  was  come  Himself. 
The  Eternal  Truth  was  personally  there,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God  was  with  Him  in  our  manhood ; 
for  the  Son  of  God  was  incarnate,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  rested  upon  Him.  Israel  then  had  a  divine 
Teacher,  and  an  infallible  Guide ;  and  the  words  of 
the  prophet  were  fulfilled,  that  He  would  'set  up 
one  Shepherd  over  them,  and  He  shall  feed  them,  even 
My  servant  David :  He  shall  feed  them,  and  He  shall 
be  their  Shepherd.'9 

I  ask  you,  then,  were  these  words  spoken  to 
them  alone  ?  Was  this  promise  of  the  perpetuity 
of  the  Word  and  of  the  Spirit  made  only  to  the 
people  of  God  of  old  ?  Is  it  not  also  made  to  us  ? 
Is  it  an  inheritance  that  was  cut  off  when  the  Son 
of  God  ascended  into  heaven  ?  When  He  went  up 
on  high  to  assume  the  royalties  of  His  kingdom, 
and  to  reign  by  His  eternal  prerogatives  over  the 
sons  of  men,  did  the  perpetuity  of  the  covenant  of 
the  Spirit  come  to  an  end  ?  Are  we  disinherited  of 
these  promises  of  eternal  truth  ?  No.  '  This  is  My 
covenant :  .  .  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but 
My  words  shall  not  pass  away.'  You,  then,  are  the 
heirs  of  this  great  promise  ;  with  you  also  this  cove- 
nant is  made ;  you  share  in  the  perpetuity  of  the 
•  Ezekiel  xxxiv.  23. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.  7 

Spirit  which  is  in  Jesus,  our  great  High  Priest  and 
King.  You  share  also  in  the  word  which  was  put  in 
His  mouth.  And  bow  is  this  accomplished  ?  When 
He  ascended  up  on  high,  He  did  not  depart  from  His 
Church  on  earth.  '  Behold,  I  am  with  you  all  days, 
even  to  tho  consummation  of  the  world.'10  When 
He  withdrew  His  visible  and  personal  presence,  it 
was  replaced  by  a  universal,  supernatural,  and  mys- 
tical presence,  as  real,  divine,  and  true  as  the  pre- 
sence which  is  visible  to  the  eye.  He  promised  that 
when  He  ascended  up  on  high,  He  would  ask  the 
Father  to  send  another  Paraclete,  that  He  might 
abide  with  us  for  ever,  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth.11 
He  said,  '  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go ;  for  if 
I  go  not,  the  Paraclete  will  not  come  to  you ;  but 
if  I  go,  I  will  send  Him  unto  you.'13  It  needs  must 
be  that  the  Son  of  God  should  depart ;  for  the  order 
of  the  divine  economy,  and  the  succession  of  the 
divine  revelations,  required  that  '  Jesus  should  be 
glorified,'13  before  the  Spirit  should  be  given.  And 
when  He  ascended  up  on  high,  He  poured  down  the 
same  unction  with  which  He  Himself  was  anointed. 
On  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  Holy  Ghost  descended 
on  His  twelve  Apostles,  and  they  were  quickened 

10  St.  Matthew  xxviii.  20.  »  St.  John  xiv.  1C,  17. 

»  St.  John  xvi.  7.  "  Ibid.  vii.  39. 


8  THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

into  life  as  one  body.14  Twelve  men,  united  before 
in  outward  fellowship,  chosen,  commissioned,  and 
empowered  under  the  broad  seal  of  the  kingdom  of 
Jesus  to  go  throughout  the  world  and  subdue  all 
nations,  and  to  knit  them  together  in  one  great 
unity.  Nevertheless  they  were  as  yet  isolated,  until 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  descending  on  them,  quick- 
ened them  as  one  living  body — knit  them  together 
with  so  perfect  a  unity  of  life,  that  henceforth  they 
became  the  one  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the 
one  organ  of  His  voice. 

I.  The  anointing  which  was  upon  Jesus,  the  Son 
of  God  Incarnate,  the  great  High  Priest,  the  true 
Aaron,  descended  upon  the  skirts  of  His  garments ; 
and  the  Apostles  were  therefore  anointed  with  the 
sacerdotal  unction  which  is  the  Spirit  of  Truth  ;  and 
the  Word,  never  more  to  depart  from  them,  was  put 
into  their  mouth.  For  when  that  one  body  was  con- 
stituted in  the  guest-chamber  in  Jerusalem,  there 
came  into  existence  a  creation  which  the  world  had 
never  known  before.  It  was  the  fulness  of  the  mys- 
tery of  the  Incarnation — the  prolongation  of  its  pre- 
sence upon  earth,  the  extension  of  its  powers,  and 
the  creation  of  the  mystical  body.  The  Divine  Head 
was  in  heaven,  but  as  yet  His  members  were  not 
11  Ephes.  iv.  4-16. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.  9 

knit  together  on  earth,  until  the  Holy  Spirit  de- 
scended. Then  the  second  Adam  rose,  as  it  were, 
out  of  the  dust.  Tho  mystical  presence  of  Jesus, 
Head  and  members,  lived  on  earth.  We  read  in 
the  book  of  Acts,  that  when  the  Holy  Ghost  de- 
scended in  the  outpouring  of  the  flames  of  light 
which  crowned  His  Apostles,  parted  tongues  of  firo 
sat  on  each  of  them ;  severally  and  distinctly  they 
were  filled ;  severally  and  one  by  one  they  were 
illuminated ;  the  Spirit  was  in  them  one  by  one, 
and  the  "Word  was  put  in  their  mouth.  But,  farther, 
the  sacred  text  goes  on  to  say,  '  And  they  were  all 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.'  The  whole  body  was 
knit  together  in  one  :  it  had  a  corporate  existence, 
it  was  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  became  the 
dwelling-place  of  His  illumination,  and  the  organ  of 
His  word.  So  that,  beyond  the  office  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God  had  always  accomplished  upon 
earth — the  illumination  and  the  sanctification  of  all 
the  faithful,  from  Abel  the  just  till  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost— there  was  another  office  and  another  work 
assumed  on  that  day ;  I  mean,  the  illumination  and 
the  guiding  of  the  Body  of  Christ ;  that  is,  of  a  cor- 
porate society,  as  an  organ  through  which  His  voico 
might  be  heard  throughout  the  w6rld.  It  is  the 
visible  and  corporate  presence,  by  which  the  invi- 


10         THE  CIIUKCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

sible . Spirit  of  God  is  made  manifest.  The  Holy 
Spirit ,  of  God  united  Himself  on  that  day  to  the 
mystical  body  of  Christ,  after  the  analogy  of  the 
Incarnation.  As  Godhead  and  manhood  are  united 
in  one  person,  never  to  be  divided,  by  the  indis- 
soluble link  of  the  hypostatic  union,  so  the  Holy 
Spirit  united  Himself  to  the  mystical  body  on  that 
day,  never  to  depart  from  it;  to  be  its  life,  guide, 
and  voice  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  Church  of  God  had  then  first  its  perfect 
fulness.  It  was  then  endowed  with  its  supernatural 
prerogatives!  It  received  from  its  Head  the  com- 
munication of  the  divine  and  imperishable  powers 
which  He  Himself  had  exercised  on  earth.  It  be- 
came the  divine  teacher  of  the  world.  It  had  a  light 
which  could  never  waver,  it  had  a  voice  which  could 
never  falter.  It  partook  of  the  communicable  attri- 
butes of  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  Avas  His  representa- 
tive. It  was  to  be  the  witness,  and  the  teacher,  and 
the  judge  of  divine  truth  upon  earth.  The  Apostles 
became  kings  and  priests,  anointed  teachers  of  the 
Word,  guides  that  could  not  err.  From  that  hour 
to  this  the  prophecy  has  been  accomplished.  It 
was  not  for  that  first  age  alone.  Its  perpetuity  was 
pledged  by  the  prayer  of  the  Son  of  God  :  '  I  will 
ask  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  you  another  Para- 


THE  CHUKCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE 

clete,  that  He  may  abide  with  you  for 
deed  abide  with  you  for  a  time  :  My  abid 
time.  I  shall  depart  unto  My  Father ;  but 
clete,  whom  I  shall  send,  He  shall  abide  with  you  for 
ever.  And  therefore  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  who 
came  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  inhabit  the  mystical 
body,  is  in  the  world  at  this  hour,  in  all  the  pleni- 
tude of  His  prerogatives,  and  in  all  the  fulness  of 
His  divine  office  as  Guide  and  Teacher.  He  dwells 
in  the  world  now,  teaching  by  the  same  divine  and 
infallible  voice. 

II.  The  twelve  Apostles  in  Jerusalem  were  the 
germ  and  commencement  of  the  Church  of  God, 
which,  descending  from  the  upper  chamber,  spread 
throughout  the  world,  and  knit  together  all  nations  in 
one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  body,  and  one  spirit.  The 
nations  of  the  world  lost  their  separate  existence, 
ajid  were  merged  in  a  higher  unity.  The  separation 
of  their  natural  origin  was  redressed — they  were 
taken  up  into  the  supernatural  unity  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  They  became  the  world-wide  sanctuary  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  channel  of  the  voice  of  the  Spirit 
of  Truth.  The  Apostolic  College  spread  throughout 
all  the  world,  and  passed  into  the  universal  episco- 
pate. The  words  put  in  the  mouths  of  the  Apostles 
passed  from  succession  to  succession  into  the  mouths 


12         THE  CHURCII,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

of  the  pastors  and  bishops  of  the  universal  Church. 
The  whole  world  was  filled  with  the  presence  of  the 
Divine  Teacher,  from  whom  the  Spirit  and  the  Word 
could  never  depart.  Therefore  the  Apostles  when 
assembled  in  Jerusalem  made  their  decrees  in  these 
words  of  divine  power :  '  It  hath  seemed  good  to  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,  to  lay  no  further  burden  upon 
you  than  these  necessary  things.'15  What  words  are 
these  for  men  to  speak !  '  Who  hath  known  the  mind 
of  the  Lord  ?  or  who  hath  been  His  counsellor  ?'16 
Who  can  declare  the  mind  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  This 
was  their  prerogative,  this  was  the  endowment  be- 
stowed on  the  Church  of  God.  It  could  speak  in  the 
name  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  because  it  could  discern  by 
His  light,  and  decree  by  His  assistance.  In  every  age 
of  the  Church,  from  generation  to  generation,  from  cen- 
tury to  century,  the  same  perpetual  presence  pledges 
to  the  Church  the  same  perpetual  assistance,  and 
endows  it  with  that  same  perpetual  prerogative  to  say, 
'It  hath  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us.' 
There  is,  then,  fulfilled  now  to  you  and  to  me 
this  promise  of  the  Lord  by  the  prophet;  there  is 
now  a  path  and  a  way,  which  is  the  way  of  holiness 
— a  way  in  which  the  simple  and  the  unlearned  shall 
not  err.  There  is  a  voice  behind  our  back,  saying, 

14  Acts  xv.  23.  »  Rom.  xi.  34. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.          13 

*  This  is  the  way;  walk  ye  in  it,'  that  we  turn  not 
to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left.  There  is  an  infal- 
lible teacher  among  men.  There  is  a  voice  speaking 
throughout  the  whole  world,  which  they  who  follow 
E.hall  follow  into  all  truth.  God  has  not  forsaken  His 
Church;  Jesus  has  not  departed  from  it.  Though 
enthroned  in  heaven,  He  is  in  it  still.  The  Church 
itself  is  Jesus  teaching  and  reigning  upon  earth  :  by 
His  Spirit  and  His  Word,  He  is  present  still,  and 
will  be,  to  the  consummation  of  the  world. 

III.  And  where  now  is  this  Church  ?  If  only  we 
could  find  it,  if  only  we  could  know  where  the  divine 
voice  is  to  be  heard,  if  only  we  could  discover  where 
this  organ  is,  all  controversy  would  be  at  an  end.  Men 
would  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their 
spears  into  pruning-hooks ;  there  would  be  no  more 
jangling  of  words,  no  more  clash  of  arguments,  no 
more  battle  of  reasons,  no  more  conflict  of  intelli- 
gences, no  more  struggles  of  heated  wills  in  the 
arena  of  religious  animosity.  All  these  things  would' 
be  extinct,  and  the  weapons  of  spiritual  warfare  would 
be  beaten  into  useful  implements  of  tillage  and  of 
husbandry  for  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord.  Where, 
then,  is  this  Church  to  be  found?  There  is  one 
sure  test  by  which  we  may  find  it.  The  Apostles 
were  united  with  Peter.  He  was  first  among  them. 


14         THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  "WORD. 

He  was  the  head  of  all.  They  took  no  separate  acts 
apart  from  him.  They  taught  no  other  doctrine  than 
the  doctrine  of  Peter.  They  laid  no  other  founda- 
tion. All  their  prerogatives  they  held  in  common 
with  him.  The  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  which 
they  bare  were  given  first  into  Peter's  hands.  They 
had  stood  by  and  heard  from  the  lips  of  the  Incar- 
nate Word  Himself,  anointed  by  the  Holy  Ghost: 
'  Thou  art  Peter ;  and  on  this  rock  I  will  build  My 
Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it ;  and  unto  thee  will  I  give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth, 
it  shall  be  bound  in  heaven.'17  Peter  then  was  their 
head;  he  was  their  chief  in  that  Apostolic  College 
which,  on  the  day  of  Peuteccst,  was  the  organ  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Has  he  ever  ceased  to  be  so  ?  Who 
stands  in  Peter's  place  at  this  hour  ?  Is  there  any 
successor  to  his  authority  ?  The  whole  world  believed 
of  old  that  Linus  Bishop  of  Rome  succeeded  to  Peter, 
when  he  ascended  from  the  cross  of  martyrdom  to  the 
throne  of  his  Lord ;  and  to  Linus,  Cletus.  Home  was 
the  centre  of  that  one  universal  Church  of  all  nations 
then.  This  is  undisputed ;  it  is  beyond  controversy. 
The  untroubled  page  of  history  in  those  early  days, 
to  which  some  profess  to  appeal,  attests  the  fact  that 
"  St.  Matthew  xvi.  19. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.          15 

there  was  then  but  one  Church  on  earth.  There  was 
no  second — no  other — none  like  it,  none  beside  it ; 
and  the  centre  and  head  of  that  Church  was  the 
centre  and  head  of  the  Christian  world.  It  was  the 
city  of  Eome,  and  in  that  city  of  Eome  the  See  of 
Rome,  the  apostolic  throne  on  which  sat  the  suc- 
cessors of  the  Chief  of  the  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ. 
No  one  doubts  this  as  to  history  in  the  past;  but  the 
history  of  the  past  is  supposed  to  lay  no  jurisdiction 
over  our  consciences  now.  Men  treat  history  as  an 
idle  page,  which  they  may  read  for  their  amusement, 
but  refuse  as  a  guide  for  their  consciences.  And  yet 
it  is  indubitable  that  the  one  only  Church  of  God, 
the  circumference  of  which  rested  on  the  sunrise 
and  the  sunset,  had  a  centre,  and  that  centre  was  in 
Borne.  Take  it  then  as  a  mere  matter  of  fact.  The 
Divine  Architect,  in  describing  the  circuit  of  His 
kingdom  on  earth,  placed  one  foot  of  His  compass  in 
the  city  of  Eome,  and  with  the  other  traced  a  cir- 
cumference which  included  the  whole  world.  The 
annals  of  the  Church  in  succession  recognise  the 
Bishop  who  sat  in  Peter's  seat  as  head  among  the 
Bishops  of  the  world.  I  need  not  wear  away  your 
time  by  citing  testimonies.  Any  one  who  will  take ' 
the  page  of  history  may  read  it.  I  raise  no  claim, 
as  yet,  to  anything  beyond  the  fact.  If,  then,  Eome 


16         THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

was  the  centre,  of  old,  of  that  only  apostolic  body 
which  was  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
the  organ  of  His  voice,  what  is  now  the  centre?  and 
which  is  now  the  Church  ?  What  is  the  centre  and 
circumference  of  that  one  Church  of  God  which  fills 
the  nations  of  the  world  at  this  moment  ?  All  the 
controversies  of  three  hundred  years  tell  us  that  it  is 
the  See  of  Rome.  Nay,  out  of  the  mouth  of  contro- 
versial historians  we  have  the  assertion  that  for  the 
last  twelve  hundred  years,  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  in 
the  amplitude  of  his  pretensions,  in  the  vast  usurpa- 
tion of  his  spiritual  power,  in  that  mighty  and  in- 
tolerable claim  to  universal  Pontificate,  has  ruled  by 
tyranny  over  the  whole  Church  of  God.  We  have 
then,  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  ending,  the  same 
head  and  the  same  centre.  Nor  will  it  be  difficult  to 
connect  together  this  long  line  of  many  links,  from 
the  martyrdom  of  St.  Peter  to  the  Pontificate  of  Pius 
the  Ninth.  If  you  were  to  see  one  of  those  vast  and 
voluminous  rivers,  of  which  we  are  told  that  in  some 
part  of  their  course  they  suddenly  bury  themselves 
in  the  hollows  of  the  earth,  and  then  burst  forth, 
with  an  exuberance  of  power,  at  some  distance  down 
their  stream;  would  any  man  be  held  to  be  a  reason- 
able being  who  should  maintain  that  the  river  which 
buried  itself  was  one  stream,  and  the  river  which 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.          17 

burst  out  afterwards  was  another,  without  continuity 
and  without  identity  ?  Should  we  not  at  once  affirm 
that  it  was  one  and  the  same  mighty  water  forc- 
ing itself  first  beneath  the  earth,  and  then  from  it  ? 
How,  then,  can  the  one  only  stream  which  flows 
down  from  the  first  fountain,  the  only  Church  over 
which  this  unbroken,  imperishable  line  of  Pontiffs, 
from  the  cross  of  St.  Peter  to  the  throne  of  Pius  IX., 
have  reigned  sovereign  and  supreme,  be  other  than 
the  one  only  Church  of  God  ?  By  that  one  long 
chain  of  Pontiffs,  two  hundred  and  fifty  and  more, 
linked  in  perfect  continuity,  connected  as  indissolu- 
bly  as  the  generations  of  men  and  the  successions 
of  time,  we  are  in  direct  contact  now,  through  the 
person  of  Pius  IX.,  with  St.  Peter,  Prince  of  the 
Apostles  and  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ.  There  was  never 
any  other  Church  beside  it.  Do  we  not  know  when 
every  other  Church,  so  called,  came  into  existence  ? 
Every  other  separate  body  had  its  origin  at  some 
period  in  that  long  line  of  history,  and  is  marked 
and  dated  in  the  stream  of  time.  We  can  find  the 
very  day  when  a  Pope's  Bull  was  burned  in  a  city  of 
Germany ;  we  can  find  the  very  hour  when  some  late 
protest  against  the  faith  of  the  Church  of  God  was 
issued ;  we  know  the  time  when  every  separate  com- 
munity claiming  to  be  a  church  came  first  into  being. 

o 


18         THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  VTORD. 

Where,  then,  I  ask,  is  the  promise  of  the  prophet  ? 
'  My  Spirit  that  is  in  thee,  and  My  word  that  I  have 
put  in  thy  inouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth, 
nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the 
mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord,  from  hence- 
forth and  for  ever.'  Has  that  one  only  Apostolic 
Church  of  God  been  disinherited,  discrowned,  un- 
anointed?  Has  the  word  been  taken  from  its  mouth? 
How  can  that  word  pass  from  its  mouth,  if  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  not  passed  from  His  dwelling-place  ?  If, 
as  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God 
dwells  in  the  temple  which  He  created  for  Himself, 
then  that  one  body  is  divine ;  then  that  one  voice 
of  God,  the  Holy  Ghost,  speaks  now  with  the  same 
unfaltering  and  infallible  accents  with  which  He 
spoke  on  that  day.  It  follows  therefore  that  the  one 
organ  of  the  Spirit  of  God  throughout  the  world  at 
the  present  moment  is  the  one  Church,  Catholic  and 
Roman ;  that  one  only  Roman  Church ;  Roman  still, 
though  it  be  diffused  throughout  the  world  in  its 
vast  episcopate ;  Catholic  still,  though  gathered  in 
council,  as  in  the  upper  chamber  in  Jerusalem ; 
Catholic  in  the  person  of  its  Pontiff;  for  it  is  the 
whole  Church  that  spoke  through  the  lips  of  the 
Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  when  but  the  other  day  he 
denned  to  the  world  by  his  infallible  voice  the  Im- 


THE  CHUECn,  THE  SPIRIT,  AKD  THE  Ty-OBD.          19 

maculate  Conception  of  the  Mother  of  God.  Jesus, 
therefore,  speaks  through  the  same  body  now  as  then ; 
and  the  endowments  of  the  body  are  the  prerogatives 
of  the  head ;  the  fulness  of  light  and  guidance  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  gave  to  the  whole  Apostolic 
College  resided  in  him  who  was  the  chief  of  all.  This 
is  the  promise  of  our  divine  Lord,  when  He  said, 
'  Simon,  Simon,  behold,  Satan  hath  desired  to  have 
you' — that  is,  all  of  you — 'that  he  may  sift  you  as 
wheat ;  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee' — that  is,  for  Peter 
— '  that  thy  faith  fail  not ;  and  thou  being  once  con- 
verted, confirm  thy  brethren.'18  This  promise  is  the 
pledge  of  perpetual  stability  in  faith ;  and  as  the 
endowments  of  the  body  are  the  prerogatives  of  the 
head,  so  the  illumination  which  is  diffused  through- 
out the  whole  body  of  the  Church  resides  eminently 
in  the  Episcopate,  but  resides  preeminently  and  above 
all  in  the  chief  of  Bishops,  the  Pastor  of  pastors,  the 
Vicar  of  the  Incarnate  Word  Himself.  Here  then  we 
have  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy ;  for  what  is  the 
Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  but  the  representative  of  Jesus 
Christ, — the  true,  special,  personal  witness, — the 
very  presence,  so  to  speak,  of  the  Son  of  God  on 
earth  ?  And  as  the  prophecy  of  Isaias  was  accom- 
plished when  the  Son  of  God  was  incarnate  and  rose 
»  St.  Luke  xxii.  31,  82. 


20         THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

up  to  teach  in  Nazareth,  anointed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  so  His  representative  and  Vicar  now  stands 
in  the  midst  of  the  world,  the  true,  special  heir  of 
those  promises ;  and  on  his  anointed  head  rests  the 
Spirit  of  God,  never  to  depart,  and  in  his  mouth  the 
word  of  God,  which  cannot  pass  away.  He  is  the 
oracle,  the  organ,  and  the  living  voice  through  whom 
the  Spirit  of  God  accomplishes  to  this  hour  the  pro- 
phecy, and  the  promise. 

1.  And  now  from  this  it  follows,  that  the  doctrines 
of  that  one  Church  are  divine.  Therefore  they 
are  not  doctrines  added,  changed,  corrupted,  as  men 
would  fain  have  you  to  believe.  The  doctrines  of 
that  one  Church  of  God  are  the  doctrines  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  If  they  be  doctrines  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  they 
are  incorrupt,  even  as  the  light  of  heaven ;  they  are 
incorruptible  even  as  the  Holy  Ghost  Himself;  they 
are  primitive,  for  they  are  the  doctrines  which  He 
delivered  in  the  guest-chamber;  they  are  pure,  be- 
cause they  have  not  the  soil  or  taint  of  a  human 
intellect  upon  them.  They  are  transcendent,  indeed ; 
they  surpass  the  reason  of  man.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  of  the  substantial  presence  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus,  must  indeed  surpass  the 
reason  of  man,  as  also  does  the  Incarnation.  If  any 
man  will  not  receive  the  doctrine  of  the  substantial 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.          21 

presence  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
how  and  with  what  consistency  does  he  profess  to 
believe  in  the  Incarnation  of  God?  The  doctrine  of 
absolution  is  indeed  transcendent, — that  a  man  on 
earth  should  have  the  power  to  say,  '  I  absolve  thee 
from  all  thy  sins.'  But  the  Pharisees  of  old  antici- 
pated the  objection ;  for  when  Jesus  Himself  said, 
'  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee,'  they  rose  up  and  said, 
'  This  man  blasphemeth ;  who  can  forgive  sins  but 
God  only  ?'19  Doubtless  the  doctrines  of  the  Ca- 
tholic Church,  the  doctrines  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 
are  transcendent,  as  they  exceed  and  surpass  the 
limits  of  the  unaided  human  reason.  And  it  may 
be  that,  if  I  began  to  speak  of  the  invocation  and 
communion  of  Saints,  of  the  expiations  of  the  world 
unseen,  and  other  mysteries  of  a  like  sort,  to  some 
among  you  I  might  seem  to  be,  as  the  Apostle  at 
Athens,  '  a  word-sower'  and  '  a  setter-forth  of  new 
gods.'20  The  doctrines  of  God  bear  the  impress  of 
the  hand  of  God ;  the  mark  and  the  dimensions 
of  the  hand  of  God  are  on  them.  If  they  bore  the 
impress  of  a  human  hand,  they  might  have  been  of 
human  manufacture ;  but  because  they  bear  the  token 
and  the  symmetry  of  the  divine  hand  which,  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  gave  them  to  the  Church,  their  very 

19  St.  Mark  ii.  5,7.  M  Acts  xvii.  18. 


22         THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

transcendent  vastness  is  a  testimony  and  an  evidence 
that  they  are  from  God.  They  come  to  us  to  be  re- 
ceived by  faith ;  not  by  argument  and  jangling,  but 
with  the  mind  of  a  little  child ;  for  the  Son  of  God 
has  said,  '  I  give  thanks  to  Thee,  0  Father,  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth,  because  Thou  hast  hid  these  things 
from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them 
to  little  ones.'21  And  so  it  is  with  us  now.  The 
faith  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church, — pure,  incorrupt, 
incorruptible,  primitive,  divine, — from  the  lips  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  is  indeed  a  faith  transcendent,  and 
demanding  of  every  one  that  would  believe  it  the 
docile  submission  and  child-like  trust  of  heart  and 
will  which  is  due  to  the  presence  and  guidance  of  a 
Divine  Teacher.  If  men  believe  what  they  profess  to 
believe  of  the  perpetuity,  the  presence,  the  teaching 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  can  they  do  otherwise  than  sub- 
mit themselves  with  docility  to  the  utterance  of  a  voice 
which  is  divine  ?  All  doctrines  have  been  disputed, 
cast  out,  disfigured  in  controversy,  railed  upon  by  the 
world;  for  since  Jesus  withdrew  Himself,  and  the 
shame  which  fell  on  Him  had  no  longer  a  divine 
personal  object  in  the  world,  never  was  there  any- 
thing so  railed  at  as  that  one  universal  faith  of  the 
Holy  Catholic  'and  Roman  Church.  It  bears  the 

81  St.  Matthew  xi.  25. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.          23 

shame  of  Jesus  :  '  You  shall  be  hated  by  all  men  for 
My  name's  sake,'22  has  been  fulfilled  in  the  faith 
which  we  believe.  And  why  is  it  so  ?  Because  it 
speaks  in  its  Master's  name ;  because  it  perpetuates 
His  voice  ;  because  every  definition  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  is  an  accent  of  the  voice  of  Jesus.  Therefore 
men  gainsay  it,  as  they  gainsayed  Him;  but  the 
words  of  the  prophet  stand  true :  '  My  Spirit  that  is 
in  thee,  and  My  words  that  I  have  put  in  thy  mouth, 
shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the 
mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's 
seed,  saith  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  and  for  ever.' 

2.  There  follows  also  another  truth,  and  it  is  an 
awful  one, — a  truth  which  springs  from  the  last  so 
inseparably  and  by  so  strong  a  necessity,  that  I  dare 
not  pass  it  by.  If,  indeed,  God  the  Holy  Ghost  bt> 
in  the  midst  of  us,  and  if  it  be  God  the  Holy  Ghost 
Who  speaks  to  us  through  the  one  Holy  Catholic  and 
Roman  Church,  then  it  imposes  its  doctrines  on  the 
consciences  of  men  under  pain  of  eternal  death.  It 
is  under  pain  of  eternal  death  to  disbelieve  that  which 
God  the  Holy  Ghost  has  revealed.  To  disbelieve 
what  the  Holy  Ghost,  through  the  Church  of  God, 
has  taught,  incurs  the  pain  of  eternal  death  for  those 
who  with  their  eyes  open  reject  it.  It  is  an  awful 

»  St.  Matthew  x.  22. 


24         THE  CHUECH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WOED. 

truth,  and  therefore  the  Apostle  said,  '  Thanks  be  to 
God,  who  always  causeth  us  to  triumph  in  Christ 
Jesus  .  .  for  we  are  unto  God  the  good  odour  of  Christ 
in  them  that  are  saved,  and  in  them  that  perish.' 
God  is  justified,  and  His  truth  is  glorified,  and  the 
two-edged  sword  of  His  justice  accomplishes  its  work 
on  those  that  believe  and  on  those  that  believe  not  ; 
'to  some,  indeed,  the  odour  of  death  unto  death,  but 
to  the  others  the  odour  of  life  unto  life.'23 

For  the  Church  of  God,  speaking  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  imposes  the  duty  of  belief  and  of  obedience 
in  the  same  words  which  the  Apostles  spoke  at  Jeru- 
salem :  '  It  hath  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
to  us.'  And  therefore  all  those  who  can  know  these 
truths  are  bound  to  know  them.  God  will  enter  into 
judgment  with  no  man  for  that  which  is  impossible. 
He  will  exact  an  account  of  no  one  for  that  which 
he  could  not  do.  He  will  require  at  the  last  day  a 
reckoning  from  no  one  of  that  which  he  never  heard. 
But  wheresoever  the  one  faith  of  God  is  preached, 
wheresoever  the  divine  voice  has  touched  the  ear,  the 
ear  is  open  and  the  heart  hears  it,  and  the  will  is 
conscious,  and  the  judgment  takes  effect.  And  more 
than  this :  we  are  answerable  not  only  for  what  we 
know,  but  for  what  we  might  know.  Whensoever 

»  2  Cor.  ii.  14-16. 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.         25 

the  light  comes  within  the  reach  of  our  sight,  or  the 
voice  within  the  reach  of  our  ear,  we  are  bound  to 
follow  it,  to  inquire  and  to  learn  ;  for  we  are  answer- 
ahle,  not  only  for  what  we  can  do,  by  absolute  power 
now,  but  for  what  we  might  do  if  we  used  all  the 
means  we  have ;  and  therefore,  whensoever  the  Church 
of  God  comes  into  the  midst  of  us,  it  lays  all  men 
under  responsibility;  and  woe  to  that  man  who  says, 
'  I  will  not  read ;  I  will  not  hear ;  I  will  not  listen ; 
I  will  not  learn ;'  and  woe  to  those  teachers  who  shall 
say,  '  Don't  listen,  don't  read,  don't  hear ;  and  there- 
fore, don't  learn.'  When  this  divine  voice  comes,  we 
must  listen  with  our  ears  open,  and  with  a  flexible  will 
and  a  docile  heart ;  lest  the  divine  voice  should  come 
into  the  midst  of  us,  and  we  should  be  found  with 
ears  that  cannot  hear,  and  hearts  that  will  not  believe. 
If  these  words  are  awful,  they  are  also  consoling  ; 
for  there  is  for  the  weak  and  for  the  ignorant, 
for  the  timid  and  for  the  doubtful,  a  sure  hope  of 
eternal  life.  There  is  a  path  and  a  way,  which  is 
called  a  holy  way,  and  the  simple  and  the  unlearned 
shall  not  err  therein.  All  they  need  is  this  :  to  fol- 
low with  docility  that  divine  voice.  It  is  the  way  of 
truth,  it  is  the  way  of  grace,  it  is  the  way  of  the 
Precious  Blood,  it  is  the  way  of  life  eternal.  All  that, 
is  needed  is  a  docile  submission  to  the  voice  of  the 


26         THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

Holy  Ghost ;  and  the  voice  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  to 
be  heard  here,  as  in  all  the  world,  from  the  lips  of 
the  Holy  Catholic  and  Roman  Church. 

This  fair  land  of  yours  Nature  has  chosen  as  the 
mirror  of  her  heauty.  She  has  planted  it  in  the  north- 
ern seas,  with  its  mountains  fronting  the  western 
sun,  and  watered  its  valleys  and  plains  with  a  thou- 
sand streams.  The  lights  of  heaven  are  poured  upon 
its  lakes  and  glens  with  an  illumination  and  a  glory, 
with  an  entanglement  and  a  mingling  of  all  the  hues 
that  can  make  earth  beautiful.  There  is  no  land 
in  all  the  world,  which,  for  the  softer  splendours  of 
mountain  and  fell,  wood  and  stream,  surpasses  Scot- 
land. Beautiful  in  nature,  but  once  still  more  beau- 
tiful in  grace  !  Witness  the  mighty  churches,  of  which 
one  now  serves  for  three  ;  witness  the  roofless  abbeys 
in  the  low  glades  and  valleys  of  the  north  ;  witness 
the  Lady  -  chapels,  where  the  altars  of  Mary  were 
lighted  of  old.  The  beauty  of  Jesus  and  of  Mary, 
the  light  and  presence  of  the  Incarnation  was 
here.  The  illumination  of  the  Word  and  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit  were  upon  Scotland  then.  There 
was  peace  and  there  was  charity,  because  there  was 
truth,  in  those  days ;  there  was  heroism  and  there 
was  saintliness,  because  Scotland  then  was  within 
the  unity  of  the  Church  of  God.  The  word  of  the 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.         27 

prophet  Isaias  was  accomplished  in  this  land.  But 
there  came  a  time  of  rude  change,  when  the  union 
of  the  Spirit  and  the  Word  was  broken  ;  when  those 
which  God  had  joined  together  were  divorced  by  the 
will  of  men ;  when  the  rebellious  intellect  of  man 
rose  against  the  divine  voice  of  the  Church  of  God, 
and  rejected  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  because  he 
would  not  bow  to  any  teacher. 

Then  came  another  change ;  when  men  had  re- 
jected the  divine  voice  by  the  struggling  indocility  of 
their  will,  the  word  departed  from  their  lips.  They 
clutched  at  it  with  jealousy,  and  they  found  in  their 
hands  the  written  word  alone :  Litera  occidit,  spi- 
ritus  autem  vivificat.2*  The  letter  that  killeth  was 
left  behind,  the  spirit  that  giveth  life  departed.  The 
word  was  interpreted  no  more  by  the  light  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  no  more  by  an  infallible  Guide,  but  by 
the  interpretations  of  man  and  the  light  of  the  human 
intellect.  Then  came  contradiction,  struggle,  and 
contention,  and'for  three  hundred  years  division  and 
subdivision,  the  crumbling  and  dissolving  of  what 
once  was  the  mystical  body;  so  that  there  is  now 
no  land  in  all  the  world,  save  only  England,  which 
went  abreast  with  Scotland  in  revolt,  to  be  compared 
with  Scotland  for  its  religious  disunion.  And  in  the 
«  2  Cor.  iii.  6. 


28         THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

train  of  these  divisions  came  uncertainty,  indifference, 
lukewarmness,  and  doubt,  asking,  '  Who  knows  what 
is  true  ? — whether  is  the  truth  on  this  side  or  that  ? 
"Who  can  tell  ?  Who  is  the  judge  ?'  And  in  the 
train  of  indifference  comes  infidelity,  saying,  '  God 
hath  not  said.  Why  believe  this  ?  I  will  not  believe 
that.'  The  spirit  of  unbelief  is  rushing  in  through 
the  breach  as  a  flood,  because  the  spirit  and  the  word 
are  divided,  and  the  Voice  and  the  Guide  are  gone  : 
for  the  intellect  of  man  and  the  will  of  man  have 
assumed  the  sovereignty,  and  raised  themselves  up 
to  be  their  own  guide  and  light.  Private  judgment 
has  taken  the  place  of  Jesus  teaching  in  His  Church. 
But  God  has  not  forsaken,  He  has  not  forgotten  a 
land  He  once  loved  so  much;  for  all  through  these 
three  dreary  centuries  of  disunion,  hid  in  the  valleys, 
driven  up  into  the  mountains,  and  wandering  in  poverty, 
the  Church  has  still  guided  the  remnant  of  the  flock. 
There  has  been  the  Word  Incarnate  upon  the  altar, 
the  living  word  in  the  mouth  of  the  pastor,  the  holy 
Sacrifice  in  the  hands  of  the  priest,  the  unction  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  one  holy  Church,  reduced  to 
a  handful,  but  still  living  on,  Catholic  and  Roman 
in  its  divine  prophetic  perpetuity.  Even  here  in 
Scotland,  Vicars- Apostolic,  the  representatives  of  the 
Holy  See,  the  special  witnesses  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.          29 

Christ,  consecrated  by  the  Word,  and  anointed  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  through  three  centuries  of  desola- 
tion have  ruled  the  Church  of  God.  They  have  or- 
dained and  commissioned  the  priests  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  have  conferred  on  them  the  spirit  of  grace,  and 
have  put  the  word  in  their  mouth.  There  has  been 
the  perpetuity  of  the  one  immutable  faith  and  the 
one  infallible  voice,  even  in  this  land  :  and  now,  after 
three  hundred  years,  when  the  order  of  all  human 
events  would  require  that  a  thing  so  feeble  and  weak 
should  wax  less  and  less,  it  is  waxing  stronger  and 
stronger,  it  is  growing  mighty,  it  is  multiplying  on 
every  side,  enlarging  its  presence,  putting  on  its  ma- 
jesty, coming  forth  in  its  beauty,  and  exhibiting  its 
splendour,  as  it  does  this  day,  in  a  new  sanctuary 
reared  and  set  apart  in  honour  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  of  the  Mother  of  God.  The  Church  of 
God  is  accomplishing  these  things  ;  and  why  ?  Be- 
cause the  prophecy  of  Isaias  rests  upon  it.  This  day, 
as  in  Nazareth,  it  is  fulfilled  in  your  ears. 

And  there  is  another  token  now  visible  in  this 
land.  The  saints  of  God,  once  so  many  and  now  so 
few,  are  returning.  To  number  up  the  names  of  the 
saints  of  Scotland  is  rather  a  tax  upon  our  ingenuity 
to  find  them  than  on  the  memory  to  recount  them  by 
name.  The  flood  has  gone  over  the  earth,  the  record 


30         THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD. 

of  their  names  and  their  sanctity  is  gone ;  but  in 
this  dearth  and  barrenness  they  are  coming  back 
once  more.  St.  Ignatius,  with  his  soldier  spirit, 
always  first  to  volunteer  on  the  forlorn  hope,  always 
first  to  scale  the  walls  of  a  city  sevenfold  strong,  is 
here.  Then  comes  St.  Vincent,  who  has  filled  the 
whole  world  with  the  perfume  of  his  name,  which, 
like  the  name  of  Jesus,  from  whence  its  sweetness  is 
borrowed,  is  as  ointment  poured  forth.  St.  Vincent 
two  centuries  ago  was  here.  In  the  din  and  conflict 
of  Cromwell's  days,  when  Scotland,  bent  under  his 
rod  of  iron,  lay  crushed  in  three  great  battles — in  the 
midst  of  that  time  came  two  fathers  of  St.  Vincent, 
kindled  with  the  charity  of  their  great  saint.  They 
came  into  your  western  islands,  and  they  left  behind 
them  a  seed  which  has  never  died,  a  light  which 
has  never  been  extinguished.  And  now,  through  the 
generous  hospitality  of  one  who  has  an  eye  to 
discern  Apostles  in  the  garb  of  poverty,  they  are 
invited  here  once  more  with  a  munificence  of  faith 
and  a  largeness  of  charity  which  will  write  his  name 
in  the  hearts  of  generations  yet  unborn. 

St.  Vincent  is  come  to-day  to  Lanark,  and  has 
gathered  you  together  here ;  and  with  you  many  are 
mingled  who  are  not  yet  of  you,  but  who  will  be. 
He  has  come  once  more  with  the  majestic  march  of 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.  81 

the  holy  Roman  Church,  with  the  same  faith,  the 
same  seven  sacraments,  the  same  episcopal  rule,  the 
same  pastoral  staff,  under  which  his  sons  went  forth 
two  hundred  years  ago.  Once  more  in  open  day — 
in  such  a  day  as  this — the  holy  Boman  Church  lifts 
up  her  tiara,  and  her  infallible  voice  is  heard.  And 
therefore  may  be  said  to  Scotland  what  Jesus  said  to 
Jerusalem :  '  If  thou  also  hadst  known,  and  that  in 
this  thy  day,  the  things  that  are  for  thy  peace  ;  but 
now  they  are  hidden  from  thine  eyes.'25  And  as  He 
said  in  the  Apocalypse,  '  Be  mindful,  therefore,  from 
whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  do  penance,  and  do  the 
first  works;  or  else  I  will  come  to  thee,  and  will  re- 
move thy  candlestick  out  of  its  place,  unless  thou 
shalt  have  done  penance.'"6 

These  might  well  be  the  voices  of  warning  to  us 
to-day ;  but  they  come  to  us  also  as  the  accents  of 
love  and  invitation.  If  the  mighty  energy  of  the  will 
of  this  great  Scottish  people,  even  here  in  the  narrow 
circle  of  the  lowlands — if  the  mighty  energy  of  will 
which  has  been  applied  to  the  conquest  and  the  go- 
vernment of  the  world,  which  has  filled  the  Western 
and  Eastern  Indies  with  its  sway,  which  has  built 
up  the  mighty  Babylon  a  few  miles  off,  peopled  by 
half  a  million  of  toiling  souls,  who  toil  with  a  unity 

»  St.  Luke  xix.  42.  M  Apoc.  iv.  5. 


32         THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AXD  THE  WORD. 

of  power  as  if  there  was  but  one  will  to  govern  and 
direct  them,  wearing  themselves  out,  spending  and 
being  spent  from  sunrise  to  sunset  for  this  perishing 
life — if  that  will  were  only  sanctified,  and  that  intel- 
lect were  only  illuminated,  if  the  unction  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  the  truth  of  the  Word  of  God,  could  be 
once  more  wedded  together  in  the  spiritual  nature 
and  life  of  the  Scottish  people,  what  a  race  of  soldiers, 
of  heroes,  and  of  saints  of  Jesus  Christ  should  here 
arise !  And  who  knows  what  may  be  hereafter  ?  You 
and  I  shall  soon  pass  away ;  but  the  work  begun  to- 
day is  a  work  that  will  not  pass  away.  It  has  the 
perpetuity  of  the  Spirit  and  the  Word ;  and  when 
we  are  gone,  it  will  multiply  and  accomplish  itself. 
Generation  after  generation,  God  will  make  perfect 
His  own.  He  will  gather  out  His  elect  until  the  day 
shall  come  when  He  will  be  revealed  with  all  His 
saints ;  and  out  of  this  place  there  will  ascend  to  meet 
Him  souls  whom  you  know  not ;  and  bright  crowns 
shall  be  won  that  day  by  those  who  here  have  toiled 
for  them,  who  have  prayed  for  them,  who  have  given 
alms  for  them,  who  have  offered  at  the  altar  so  much 
as  one  aspiration,  one  desire,  that  the  Word  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  may  come  to-day  into  His  sanctuary. 
The  altar  yonder  was  consecrated  yesterday,  on  the 
Feast  when  we  commemorate  the  dedication  of  the 


THE  CHURCH,  THE  SPIRIT,  AND  THE  WORD.          83 

greatest  Church  of  all  the  world — Omnium  Ecclesi- 
arum  Mater  et  Magistra,  as  it  is  inscribed  in  front 
of  the  great  Basilica  of  St.  John  Lateran,  the  Cathe- 
dral Church  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ.  To-day 
we  celebrate  the  feast  of  a  saint27  who,  for  his  tender 
love  of  the  Cross,  took  to  himself  the  name  of  An- 
drew, dear  to  Scotland  and  to  you.  Yesterday  and 
to-day  will  make  but  one  yearly  festival,  uniting  once 
more  in  holy  wedlock  Scotland  and  Rome,  in  the 
Spirit  and  the  Word,  in  the  unity  and  infallibility  of 
that  one  only  Church  of  God,  which  is  the  presence 
of  Jesus  Himself  on  earth. 

17  St.  Andrew  Avellino. 


II. 

THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VIXCENT  OF  PAUL 

On  the  two  hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  Saint,  at  St. 
Edward's,  Westminster,  Sept.  27, 1861. 


TO 

THE  VEEY  REV.  MICHAEL  BURKE, 

SUPEBIOB  OF  THE  FATHERS  OF  THE  MISSION  IN  ENGLAND, 

THESE  PLAIN  WOEDS, 
THOUGH  MOST  UNWORTHY  OF  HIS  GREAT  PATRON  AND  FATHER, 

ABE  INSCRIBED 
BY  HIS  AFFECTIONATE  SERVANT  IN  JESUS  CHRIST, 

H.E.M. 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT 
OF  PAUL. 


Well  done,  thou  good  servant ;  because  thou  hast  been  faithful  in  a 
little,  thou  shalt  have  power  over  ten  cities.  ST.  LUKE  six.  17. 

AT  this  hour,  two  hundred  years  ago,  St.  Vincent 
entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord.  It  was  this  day 
two  hundred  years,  as  the  morning  broke,  that,  in 
a  quiet  sleep,  he  passed  into  the  beatific  vision ; 
and  the  life  which  through  eighty-five  long  years 
had  burned  like  a  fire  in  the  fragrance  of  charity, 
ascended  to  the  Paradise  of  God,  and  shone  forth  as 
the  splendour  of  the  noon-day  sun  in  the  eternal 
kingdom.  What  a  day,  then,  is  this,  not  for  his 
children  alone,  but  for  the  whole  Church  of  God, 
and  for  all  who  are  under  the  action  of  its'  benign  and 
loving  influence  1  To-day  may  be  called  a  festival 
of  charity. 


33         THE  APOSTOIATE  OF  ST.  TrSCE3TT  OF 

The  Holy  Father,  in  the  midst  of  his  sorrows  and 
anxieties,  Las  remembered  us  and  all  his  children 
in  every  land,  and  has  granted  to  us  a  plenary 
indulgence,  to  increase  the  accidental  glory  of  SL 
Tineent  in  this  great  jubilee,  -which  is  kept  with  an 
acclaim  of  joy  throughout  the  whole  world.  And 
therefore  I  bid  your  prayers  most  affectionately 
and  most  earnestly  for  the  Holy  Father  and  for  the 
Holy  See ;  and  I  trust  that  not  one  of  you  will  for- 
get in  this  season  of  grace  to  make  a  special  and 
earnest  intercession  that  Almighty  God  may  corex 
him  and  it  with  the  shield  of  His  Presence. 

This  parable  of  our  Divine  Lord  seems  to  sketch 
out,  and,  as  it  were,  to  prophesy,  the  life,  the  works, 
and  the  rewards  of  His  Saints.  The  purport,  is 
you  know,  is  this:  A  certain  nobleman  went  into 
a  far  country  to  receive  for  himself  a  kingdom,  and 
to  return ;  and  his  citizens  sent  an  embassage  after 
him,  saying:  We  will  not  hare  this  man  to  reign 
over  us.1  Before  be  departed  he  gave  to  his  ten 
servants  ten  pounds,  to  each  of  them  one  pound, 
and  bade  them  trade  until  he  came  again-  And 
when  he  returned,  the  first  eame  to  him  with  wonder 
and  astonishment  at  the  fertility  and  the  xaultipli- 
,  of  fbe  pound — the  little  trust  committed  to  his 

»  BL  T«V«  sis.  12-14. 


THE  AP03TOLATE  OF  ST.  TKCEXT  OP  PAUL.         39 

charge,  and  said,  '  Lord,  thy  pound  hath  gained  ten 
pounds.'2  He  said,  '  Thy  pound,'  knowing  that  the 
power  of  multiplication  lay  in  this,  that  it  was  not 
his,  but  his  lord's.  And  the  lord  said,  '  Well  done, 
thou  good  servant ;  because  thou  hast  been  faithful 
in  a  little,  thou  shalt  have  power  over  ten  cities,'3 
that  is,  a  share  in  my  kingdom ;  and  so,  in  propor- 
tion, with  the  rest.  Let  me  now  make  application 
of  this  to  the  great  Saint  whose  jubilee  we  comme- 
morate to-day. 

But  before  I  speak  of  St.  Vincent,  I  must  needs 
speak  of  the  state  of  the  land  which  gave  him  birth, 
and  of  the  work  that  he  had  to  do  in  it.  First,  then, 
bring  to  mind  what  was  the  condition  of  France  be- 
fore the  birth  of  St.  Vincent.  The  Church  of  God,  in 
the  beginning,  extinguished  all  national  differences 
in  the  unity  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  then,  by  the  pro- 
vidence of  God,  took  the  place  of  the  mighty  empire 
of  Rome,  in  which  those  national  distinctions  were 
only  held  in  check  by  the  force  of  arms.  It  kid  the 
foundation  of  a  new  family,  in  which,  though  men 
spoke  different  tongues,  they  had  but  one  heart  and 
one  mind.  Christian  and  Catholic  Europe,  which 
grew  up  under  the  action  of  the  Holy  See  and  the 
unity  of  the  Catholic  Church,  was  as  one  household 

•  St.  Luke  xix.  18.  «  Ib.  »x.  17. 


40          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

in  faith  and  charity ;  and  the  national  jealousies,  ri- 
valries, distinctions,  and  repulsions,  which  now  tear 
the  world  asunder,  were  held  in  check.  And  so  it 
was  for  many  centuries,  until  modern  Europe,  as  we 
call  it — that  is,  the  latter  form  and  aspect  of  Europe 
as  we  see  it  now — began  to  form  itself  by  the  divi- 
sion of  races,  of  languages,  and  of  kingdoms.  Then 
national  divisions  became  organised,  and  national 
pride  grew  strong,  and  nations,  resting  each  one 
on  its  own  centre,  began  to  contend  with  the  Holy 
See,  and  to  strain  the  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
This  had  been  going  on  for  centuries  before  St.  Vin- 
cent's birth.  It  would  be  out  of  place  in  speaking 
with  you,  and  on  such  a  day  as  this,  to  enter  into 
any  detail  about  it ;  all  I  need  say  is  this,  that  for 
some  two  centuries  or  more,  the  kings  and  princes 
of  Europe  had  been  wrestling  with  the  Vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ,  endeavouring  to  vindicate  what  they  called 
their  liberties  and  rights,  their  prerogatives  and  cus- 
toms, and  so  to  draw  their  kingdoms  and  nations 
under  their  own  exclusive  sway  as  to  deprive  the 
Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  of  the  royalties  which  were 
vested  in  him  by  the  Son  of  God.  This  had  been 
attempted  in  no  country  more  openly  than  in  France ; 
until  at  last,  about  a  century  before  the  birth  of  St. 
Vincent,  Francis  I.  wrung  by  force  out  of  the  hands 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OP  PAUL.         41 

of  the  Vicar  of  Christ  a  concordat  or  agreement,  by 
which  he  obtained  the  nomination  of  all  the  Bishop- 
rics in  his  kingdom.  From  so  slight  a  thing  so  great 
an  evil  came.  The  effect  of  it  was  at  once  to  in- 
troduce secularity  and  corruption  into  the  exercise 
of  patronage  in  the  highest  places  in  the  Church. 
The  kings  and  princes  of  France  nominated  their 
favourites,  their  dependents,  their  parasites,  and 
their  creatures,  to  Archbishoprics  and  Bishoprics. 
Some  of  them  were  clothed  with  the  purple  of  the 
Princes  of  the  Church,  as  Cardinals ;  at  the  same 
time  they  were  ministers  of  state,  they  were  diplo- 
matists, they  were  the  counsellors  of  the  king ;  and 
they  acted  as  if  the  maxim  of  their  life  was  :  Seek  ye 
first  the  kingdom  of  France  and  its  glory,  putting 
it  before  the  kingdom  of  God,  before  the  Church  of 
God,  before  the  laws  of  the  Church,  and  before  the 
rights  of  the  Holy  See.  France  became  intensely 
worldly,  and  therefore  intensely  corrupt.  The  effect 
of  this  may  bo  seen  at  once  by  reading  the  life  of 
Cardinal  De  Ketz,  or  the  life  of  De  Eance,  or  the  life 
of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  or  the  life  of  Olier.  These 
four  books  will  give  you  a  picture  of  the  abuse  of  the 
state -patronage  of  France,  and  of  the  persons  who 
were  the  objects  of  that  patronage.  Perhaps  in  no 
country  in  the  world,  since  Christianity  has  been  in 


42          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

it,  was  there  ever  a  harvest  more  ripe  for  the  scourges 
which  carne  afterwards.  If  such  was  the  state  even 
of  Bishops  in  the  Church,  what  must  have  been  the 
state  of  the  priesthood?  if  such  were  the  spiritual 
fathers,  what  must  have  been  the  sons  on  whose 
heads  they  laid  their  hands?  "What  was  the  pre- 
paration and  knowledge  of  those  who  were  ordained  ? 
'  Impose  not  hands  lightly  upon  any  man'4  were  words 
that  had  little  terror  in  the  eyes  of  some.  The 
consequence  was,  that  a  body  of  clergy  grew  up 
throughout  a  great  part  of  France,  perhaps  without 
any  parallel.  Seminaries,  which  had  been  introduced 
by  order  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  seemed  to  die  out 
as  lights  in  a  poisoned  atmosphere.  They  were  no 
sooner  kindled  than  they  expired.  The  attempts 
made  to  found  seminaries,  in  execution  of  decrees  of 
the  Council,  had  so  utterly  failed,  that  the  land  was 
without  due  preparation  of  its  priesthood.  The  dis- 
cipline and  life  of  the  clergy  I  will  not  touch  upon ; 
it  is  not  only  distasteful,  but  even  scandalous,  to 
speak  of  the  priests  of  God  when  evil  comes  amongst 
them.  The  state  of  the  clergy  may  be  judged  from 
this,  that  when  the  reformation  of  the  priesthood  of 
France  began,  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  divided  his 
clergy  into  three  parts :  those  who  were  sufficiently 
«  1  Tim.  v.  22. 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         43 

instructed,  and  whose  lives  were  sufficiently  exem- 
plary to  continue  their  functions;  secondly,  those 
who  might,  by  a  course  of  discipline,  instruction,  and 
training,  be  still  retained  in  the  exercise  of  their 
ministry ;  and  thirdly,  those  who  were  so  utterly  un- 
fit, so  hopelessly  incapable,  that  nothing  could  be 
done  with  them  but  to  teach  them  to  live  virtuously 
for  the  saving  of  their  own  souls.  If  such  was  the 
state  of  the  pastors,  what  must  have  been  the  state 
of  the  flock  ?  As  it  descends  from  bishop  to  priest, 
so  it  descends  from  priest  to  people.  Priests  are  the 
salt  of  the  earth,  and  '  if  the  salt  shall  lose  its  savour, 
wherewith  shall  it  be  seasoned  ?'5  When  the  Church 
of  God  loses  its  power  over  society,  the  classes  part 
asunder.  The  beautiful  and  vital  continuity  of  charity, 
the  contact  of  love  whereby  the  spirit  of  Christianity 
spreads  through  all  grades  of  social  life,  sanctifies,  il- 
iuminates,  mitigates,  and  unites  together  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  and  all  the  intermediate  orders  of  society, 
thereby  is  broken.  Charity  having  become  cold,  the 
rich  and  the  poor  in  France  stood  apart  in  open  an- 
tagonism, with  no  common  sympathies,  no  common 
interests ;  the  rich  wringing  out  of  the  toils  of  the 
poor  the  revenues  of  their  lands,  and  the  poor  look- 
ing up  with  jealousy  and  with  enmity,  which,  if  en- 

•  St.  Luke  xiv.  34. 


41          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

mity  may  be  pardoned,  is  almost  excusable  in  them, 
against  those  who  lived  by  their  toil,  and  gave  them 
no  love  in  return. 

The  social  state,  perhaps,  in  all  countries,  at  that 
time,  was  bad  enough ;  and  if  I  speak  in  this  way  of 
France,  it  is  not  to  make  a  contrast  in  favour  of  Eng- 
land, for  the  Christian  society  of  Europe  was  hardly 
ever  more  divided,  or  more  corrupt,  than  at  that 
period.  In  France,  the  rich  were  intensely  selfish, 
and  proud  almost  beyond  example  in  any  aristocracy 
in  the  world ;  fenced  in  and  surrounded  by  privileges 
which  were  guarded,  not  only  by  personal  jealousies, 
but  by  sanguinary  laws.  In  no  Christian  country 
were  the  poor  in  a  state  of  greater  ignorance,  greater 
misery,  and  greater  degradation,  more  wounded  to 
the  very  heart,  than  they  were  in  France.  Such  was 
the  state  of  the  soil  which  gave  birth  to  St.  Vincent. 
God,  in  His  justice  and  providence,  was  preparing  for 
it  two  revolutions :  the  one  a  revolution  of  charity, 
and  the  other  a  revolution  of  chastisement.  A  re- 
volution of  charity  came  first,  like  the  words  of  our 
Divine  Lord  to  His  people  when  He  said,  when  these 
things  come  to  pass,  'then  let  those  that  are  in 
Judea  flee  to  the  mountains'6  —  giving  them  an 
opportunity  of  escape  and  of  salvation.  Then  came 
«  St.  Matt.  xxiv.  16. 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         45 

the  revolution  of  chastisement,  long  delayed,  full  three 
hundred  years,  in  the  patience  of  God,  until,  in  1793, 
within  the  memory  of  our  fathers,  it  broke  forth  in 
a  deluge  of  fire  and  blood  which  ravaged  France,  and 
has  made  the  French  Eevolution  a  name  of  horror  on 
the  page  of  history. 

Such  was  France  when  Vincent  received  'the 
pound'7  from  his  Lord.  How  little  was  his  beginning  ! 
He  was  the  son  of  a  poor  man  living  at  the  foot  of 
the  Pyrenees.  His  father  had  a  few  acres  of  land 
and  a  few  cattle,  and  Vincent's  work  as  a  boy  was  to 
keep  his  sheep.  When  he  was  ten  or  twelve  years 
old,  he  lived  a  life  of  prayer  among  the  herds  of  oxen 
in  the  field.  At  the  age  of  twelve,  he  was  sent  to 
be  instructed  by  the  Franciscans ;  as  if  God  in  His 
wonderful  providence  had  brought  the  soul  whom  He 
destined  to  be.  the  Evangelist  of  the  poor  in  contact 
with  the  Saint  who  is  the  seraphic  father  of  the  poor. 
He  learned,  no  doubt,  his  love  of  poverty  not  only 
from  his  birth,  but  from  the  poverty  of  St.  Francis. 
His  poverty  was  such  that,  in  order  to  maintain  him- 
self without  burdening  his  father,  and  to  continue  his 
studies,  he  became  an  assistant-tutor  in  a  family  just 
removed  above  want.  In  that  state  he  continued  until 
tho  age  of  eighteen  or  twenty,  when  it  was  deter- 
»  St.  Luke  xk.  16. 


48         THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

mined,  seeing  his  capacity,  quickness,  and  intelli- 
gence, that  he  should  be  sent  to  Toulouse.  His  father 
sold  two  oxen,  and  with  the  price  of  the  oxen  paid 
his  journey.  At  Toulouse  he  pursued  his  studies  for 
some  six  or  seven  years,  and  after  ordination  he  was 
compelled  again  to  become  a  tutor,  that  he  might 
maintain  himself.  In  that  state,  as  domestic  tutor 
and  chaplain  in  a  family,  the  most  commonplace 
state  of  life  we  can  imagine,  he  continued  until  he 
was  about  thirty -eight  or  forty  years  of  age.  So 
unmarked,  so  unemphatic,  so  commonplace  were  the 
preparations  of  St.  Vincent's  life.  Then,  when  he 
was  called  to  begin  his  greatest  works,  he  almost 
stood  alone.  He  had  but  two  companions,  the  first 
Fathers  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission ;  and  so 
utterly  unconscious  was  he  that  he  was  called  to  any 
work,  that  he  invited  the  fathers  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  who,  with  their  great  and  ready  charity,  had 
rendered  assistance  in  the  beginning  of  his  labours, 
to  take  up  the  work  of  which  he  himself  was  the 
founder.  He  proposed  that  the  funds  to  be  given  to 
him  should  be  transferred  to  them,  or  to  some  others, 
that  they  might  do  the  work  instead  of  himself. 
Then,  again,  in  founding  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  he 
had  for  his  assistant  one  simple  woman,  without  any- 
thing to  mark  her  character,  except  her  chanty  and 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OP  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         47 

piety.  She  was  his  sole  assistant.  It  was  truly  a 
'  very  little'  that  was  committed  to  St.  Vincent ;  we 
can  hardly  conceive  a  poorer  outfit  for  so  great  a 
work. 

Such  was  he  who  was  chosen  of  God  and  sent 
into  the  midst  of  a  kingdom,  such  as  I  have  de- 
scribed, to  work  a  revolution  of  charity,  to  anticipate 
a  revolution  of  chastisement,  and  to  leave  an  im- 
pression upon  the  whole  land  and  population,  which 
endures  to  this  day,  and  that,  not  only  as  he  left  it, 
but  multiplied  and  deepened.  It  goes  on,  too,  ever 
multiplying  and  deepening  from  age  to  age,  and 
will,  so  long  as  the  love  of  God  shall  last  on  earth  ; 
making  the  name  of  Vincent  glorious,  I  may  say, 
above  the  Saints  of  God  in  this ;  that  to  him  was 
specially  committed,  in  these  latter  days,  the  ministry 
of  active  charity  to  the  modern  society  of  the  world. 
"We  shall  see  presently  how  the  other  great  Saints 
and  servants  of  God,  who  were  raised  up  in  France, 
were  a  constellation  round  about  him.  Glorious 
too  they  were,  each  one  of  them ;  but  he  was  the 
central  sun. 

And  now  let  us  look  at  the  work  he  did,  and 
how  it  arose  in  the  simplicity  of  a  soul  entirely 
humbled  in  its  own  eyes,  entirely  unconscious  of 
the  great  mission  that  God  sent  it  to  fulfil.  The 


48          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

first  founding  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Fathers  of 
the  Mission  arose  in  this  way.  Being  on  a  summer 
visit  to  the  estates  of  a  great  family  in  which  he  was 
then  tutor,  he  found  a  poor  man,  a  peasant,  on  the 
bed  of  death,  desiring  to  see  a  priest.  He  heard 
that  this  man  had  neglected  his  duties  for  years. 
He  went,  with  his  accustomed  charity ;  and  the  man 
declared  to  him  that  he  had  made  bad  confessions 
for  j^ears  past.  He  said  that  he  had  a  fear  of  re- 
vealing certain  sins  which  he  had  committed  in  his 
youth,  and  that  he  shrunk  with  great  repugnance 
from  laying  his  soul  open  to  the  parish  priest.  Out 
of  this  bad  confession  arose  the  whole  of  the  great 
structure  of  the  charity  of  St.  Vincent,  the  Congre- 
gation of  the  Missions;  a  work  which,  in  his  life- 
time, numbered  twenty-five  houses,  and  at  this  day 
is  spread  throughout  Christendom.  Even  before  he 
closed  his  eyes,  it  was  penetrating  into  the  four 
quarters  of  the  world.  All  took  its  rise  from  so 
slight  a  cause.  Then  it  was  that  he  called  in  the 
Jesuit  fathers,  who  came  and  assisted  him  charit- 
ably and  zealously,  until,  at  last,  God  opened  his 
eyes  to  see  that  he  was  the  man  whom  God  had 
marked  out ;  that  He  would  give  him  companions 
to  do  the  work;  and  that  he  should  leave  it  in  no 
other  hand,  and  transfer  it  to  no  other.  Then  again, 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OP  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         49 

when  he  was  once  about  to  preach  at  Chatillon,  as  he 
was  going  up  into  the  pulpit  a  person  stopped  him, 
and  told  him  that  there  was  a  poor  family  who  were 
lying  sick ;  and  prayed  him,  in  his  sermon,  to  say 
something  to  move  the  congregation  to  give  alms. 
He  did  so ;  and  the  effect  was,  that  after  Vespers,  as 
he  went  to  see  the  same  poor  family,  he  met  people 
either  going  or  returning,  carrying  baskets  with  relief 
of  every  kind.  It  struck  him  at  once  that  this  zeal 
needed  only  organisation;  and  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  what  was  called  the  Confraternity  of  Charity 
— the  pious  union  of  lay  persons,  which  now  spreads 
throughout  France  with  singular  beneficence.  This, 
again,  took  its  rise  from  the  simple  fact  of  a  poor 
family  in  distress.  The  word  of  God  out  of  his 
mouth  was,  as  it  were,  'a  fire,  and  as  a  hammer 
that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces.'8  He  spoke,  and 
at  once  there  was  a  response  in  those  that  heard: 
they  came,  and  gave  themselves  to  this  office  of 
chanty.  Then,  again,  there  was  another  work  for 
which  God  had  prepared  him.  He  had  once  been  a 
captive  in  Barbary,  and  had  tasted  of  bondage  and 
imprisonment.  He  had  now  become  chaplain  of  the 
galleys  and  prisons  of  the  kingdom ;  and  it  was  this 
consciousness  of  the  misery  of  prisoners  which  moved 

•  Jer.  jcriii.  29. 

3 


50          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OP  PAUL. 

him  to  lay  the  foundation  of  bis  great  works  of 
charity  for  the  prisons  in  France. 

Soon  finding  that  the  Confraternity  of  Charity 
•was  too  weak,  too  unformed,  too  unorganised,  having 
no  sufficient  unity  or  perpetuity  in  itself,  he  con- 
ceived the  purpose  of  his  second  greatest  work — 
the  foundation  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity.  He  had  but  the  one  assistant,  of  whom  I 
have  spoken.  And  this  work,  which  they  began  with 
so  small  and  slender  an  outfit,  has  grown  to  this  day 
to  number  16,000,  who  -are  spread  throughout  the 
world,  in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  in  Christian  and 
in  heathen  lands,  ministering  to  the  sick  in  hospi- 
tals, or  to  the  wounded  upon  the  field  of  battle  ;  who 
are  to  be  seen  everywhere ;  whose  presence  surrounds 
them  with  a  cloister.  Now,  these  Sisters  of  Charity 
were  founded  in  the  beginning  for  eight  distinct 
works  of  mercy :  to  visit  the  sick  in  their  homes, 
to  give  them  temporal  relief,  to  stay  with  them 
during  their  sickness,  to  serve  them  in  hospitals, 
to  take  care  of  foundlings,  to  teach  children,  to  in- 
struct the  ignorant,  and,  lastly,  to  receive  persons  for 
retreats. 

Then  there  came  another  and  a  greater  work. 
St.  Vincent,  seeing  that  the  evil  arose  chiefly  from  the 
condition  of  the  Priesthood,  was  the  first  to  introduce 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         51 

into  France  the  complete  execution  of  the  decrees 
of  the  Council  of  Trent,  whereby  Seminaries  are 
ordered.  He  divided  them  for  the  younger  and  for  the 
older  students,  according  to  their  age  and  studies. 
He  instituted  three  :  one  for  boys,  who  as  yet  had  not 
declared  their  desire  for  any  state  of  life ;  secondly, 
for  youths  whose  vocation  was  probably  determined ; 
and  thirdly,  for  those  who  were  ready  to  begin  their 
studies  for  the  priesthood.  This  system  has  been 
carried  throughout  the  whole  of  France ;  so  that  I 
may  say,  with  few  exceptions,  there  is  no  diocese 
Vvithout  its  Seminary,  and  no  diocese  which  does  not 
reflect  in  its  Seminary  the  peculiar  character  which 
St.  Vincent  gave  it.  These  Seminaries  were  under 
the  government  of  priests  specially  trained  to  direct 
them.  More  upon  this  subject  I  cannot  say  now; 
and  ib  would  be  somewhat  out  of  place ;  but  the 
spiritual  industry,  the  prudence  in  detail  by  which 
St.  Vincent  prepared  youths  for  the  priesthood,  and 
supported  them  in  their  sacerdotal  life  after  they 
were  ordained,  was  such,  that  he  may  be  said  to  be 
the  father  and  founder  of  this  system  in  France. 

There  remains  one  other  part  of  his  work  of  which 
I  will  speak.  He  had  at  that  time  gained,  by  love 
and  by  veneration,  an  universal  influence  in  France. 
He  had  become  the  Confessor  of  the  Queen,  and 


52         THE  APOSTOLATE  OP  ST.  VIXCEXT  OP  PAUL. 

through  her  he  became  a  member  of  what  was  called 
the  Council  of  Conscience;  so  that  he,  with  four 
others,  had  the  distribution  of  the  ecclesiastical  pa- 
tronage of  the  Crown.  He  had  been  raised  up,  as 
it  vrere,  to  correct  the  eyils  of  which  I  have  spoken 
before.  It  was  he,  more  than  any  ether  man,  who 
nominated  the  pastors  and  bishops  of  the  Church  of 
France;  it  was  he  who  hindered  the  nomination  of 
corrupt  persons ;  he  it  was  who  stood  by  the  fountain 
to  purify  the  waters  from  taint  as  they  first  issued 
from  the  source.  By  a  most  singular,  visible,  and 
legible  providence,  God  had  taken  the  poor  shep- 
herd, into  whose  soul  He  had  poured  out  the  light 
of  charity,  and  £  laced  him  in  the.  Council  of  State, 
which  watched  over  the  hierarchy  of  the  French 
Church.  And  not  only  this ;  but  round  about  him 
there  had  gathered  a  constellation  of  other  servants 
of  God — names  that  I  need  hardly  now  repeat.  One 
only  I  will  mention,  because  it  so  intimately  illus- 
trates how  God  was  working  this  secret  revolution  of 
charity,  and  how,  by  the  special  presence  of  His  Holy 
Spirit,  He  was  gathering  out  His  elect  in  France. 
It  is  only  one  of  many  examples,  but  it  will  suffice. 
There  was  a  poor  woman,  the  wife  of  a  tavern- 
keeper,  cf  the  name  of  Marie  de  Gournay.  She  was 
a  woman  of  prayer ;  and  because  she  was  a  woman 


TEE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         53 

of  prayer  she  was  a  woman  who  had  power  with  God 
and  man.  That  poor  woman  one  day  saw  a  company 
of  youths  coming  from  a  fair.  She  stopped  them, 
and  said,  with  tears,  '  0,  how  I  have  prayed  for  your 
conversion  !'  And  her  words  had  power  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  They  entered  into  the  heart  of  one  of  those 
youths,  who  was  about  twenty.  He  changed  his 
life,  and  came  and  gave  himself  into  the  hands  of 
St.  Vincent,  as  his  director.  St.  Vincent  trained 
him  for  the  priesthood,  and  employed  him  in  his 
missions;  and  that  man  was  Olier,  who  was  after- 
wards the  founder  of  the  Congregation  of  St.  Sulpice, 
and  of  the  Seminaries  which  spring  from  it.  He 
was,  in  the  founding  of  Seminaries  in  France,  next 
after  St.  Vincent ;  and,  working  together  with  him, 
he  has  left  upon  the  priesthood  of  France  a  deeper 
impression  perhaps  than  any  other  man,  except  St. 
Vincent  himself.  He  was  the  servant  of  God  who 
taught  the  priesthood  of  France  the  interior  life  of 
Jesus,  as  their  pattern  and  example,  which  has  made 
them  to  be  what  they  are  at  this  day — a  light  to  the 
whole  Church. 

Now,  here  we  see  how  God  was  preparing  this 
revolution  of  charity  by  His  Spirit  in  St.  Vincent; 
and  I  need  not  dwell  farther  upon  his  works.  I  will 
only  say  that  there  were  round  about  him  many  who 


54          THE  APOSTOLATE  0?  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

were  also  eminent.  Some  are  now  canonised;  and 
some  who  have  not  been  canonised  by  the  Church 
were  doubtless  Saints.  They  came  round  about  him 
as  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  in  the  patriarch's 
vision,  and  did  homage  to  him,  because  of  his 
greater  splendour  and  altitude  in  charity  and  the 
love  of  God. 

But  if  he  was  great  during  his  own  lifetime,  how 
great  has  he  become  since  !  how  great  is  the  reward 
which  has  been  given  to  that  '  one  pound'  well  used 
— to  that  very  little  in  which  he  was  found  faithful ! 
On  this  day,  when  the  morning  light  was  breaking, 
he  entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord ;  and  then  he 
saw,  face  to  face,  Him  whom  he  had  seen  by  faith. 
By  the  light  of  faith  he  had  seen  God  long,  and  by 
the  light  of  faith  ho  had  loved  God  well.  But  what 
joy  was  his  when  at  last  his  eyes  opened  on  the 
beatific  vision !  for  the  beatific  vision  is  measured 
by  the  charity  which  is  in  the  soul  on  earth;  and 
the  soul  of  Vincent  had  a  capacity  for  the  charity  of 
God  and  man,  which  has  made  him  eminent  among 
the  Saints.  There  are  many  we  might  put  beside 
him ;  but  few  are  they  who  may  be  put  before  him. 
Surely,  next  to  the  Sacred  and  Immaculate  Hearts — 
and  others,  whom  God  knows  and  we  know  not — few 
hearts  there  are  in  the  kingdom  of  God  who  with  a 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         55 

larger  vision  or  a  greater  intensity  behold  the  Vision 
of  Peace. 

And  then,  besides  his  essential  glory,  on  which 
he  entered  to-day,  his  accidental  glory  has  from  age 
to  age  been  growing  upon  earth.  His  works  have 
been  unceasingly  multiplied.  I  know  not,  I  cannot 
give  you  the  least  outline  of  the  extent  to  which  they 
now  have  spread.  The  work  of  his  missionary  zeal 
had  in  his  own  day  reached  to  Rome,  and  into  the 
Campagna  around  the  Holy  City,  and  had  penetrated 
into  Poland,  and  had  come  north  into  England,  into 
Scotland,  and  into  Ireland,  into  the  far  East  and 
into  Egypt,  into  Constantinople  and  into  Barbary. 
It  had  already  attained  a  universality ;  it  has  been 
multiplied,  and  has  grown  from  age  to  age,  from  that 
clay  to  this.  Among  the  martyrs  of  France,  the 
names  of  the  sons  of  St.  Vincent  are  emblazoned  in 
the  annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.  The 
Sisters  of  Charity  have  been  multiplied  from  age 
to  age  and  from  generation  to  generation,  and  at 
this  day  fill  the  whole  unity  of  the  Catholic  world 
with  their  name.  Such  is  the  accidental  glory  which 
is  perpetually  increasing  to  St.  Vincent  on  high ;  for 
every  act  of  love  and  faith,  and  hope  and  contrition, 
and  every  act  of  self-denial  and  of  heroic  virtue,  done 
on  earth  by  his  sons  and  daughters,  redounds  to  his 


56          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL 

joy  and  giory  in  the  kingdom  of  his  Lord.  He  knows 
them  all ;  he  looks  on  them  all ;  he  fosters*  them  ; 
he  prays  for  them;  he  guides  them  still;  for  he  is 
mightier  with  God  now  than  ever  he  was  on  earth. 
If  he  had  a  little  then,  he  has  much  now,  He  was 
faithful  in  that  little,  and  he  reigns  over  ten  cities ; 
he  has  received  the  amplitude  of  the  prerogatives 
which  are  promised  to  fidelity. 

I  might  say  much  more;  but  it  will  suffice  to 
add  what  a  Bishop  in  France  said  in  his  day :  '  It 
is  to  Vincent  that  the  clergy  of  France  owe  their 
splendour  and  their  glory.'  And  I  may  also  say,  it 
is  to  Vincent  still  that  France  owes  its  splendour 
and  its  glory ;  for  its  glory  is  not  its  monarchy,  it  is 
not  in  its  empire,  it  is  not  in  its  armies  and  its 
fleets.  Its  chivalry  is  great ;  its  achievements  in  art 
and  science  are  magnificent :  yet  all  these  will  perish. 
The  glory  of  France  is  in  its  Church ;  in  the  stable 
unity  of  its  faith,  which  even  now  is  preserving  the 
social  order  of  France ;  in  the  mighty  power  of  its 
priesthood;  in  the  special  miracle  of  grace  which 
France  alone  in  such  exuberance  possesses — its  al- 
most innumerable  congregations  of  Religious.  This 
is  its  true  chivalry ;  this  is  its  true  glory.  If  what 
I  have  said  has  any  force,  this  I  think  has  been 
shown,  that  St.  Vincent,  more  than  any,  both  directly 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         57 

in  himself  and  indirectly  in  his  impulse  upon  others, 
by  that  power  with  which  he  laid  his  hands  upon 
the  works  of  other  men,  to  elevate,  to  organise, 
and  to  perpetuate  them,  may  be  regarded  as  the 
Founder,  the  Father,  the  Patron,  and  the  Saint  of 
the  charity  of  the  Church  in  France. 

And  how  did  God  specially  prepare  him  for  this? 
He  prepared  him  as  He  prepared  His  prophet  in 
Jerusalem.  The  prophet  Ezeldel  was  led  from  cham- 
ber to  chamber  to  see  the  abominations  of  Judah, 
the  idolatries,  the  scandals,  the  corruptions,  the 
miseries,  the  sufferings,  the  spiritual  death  of  the 
people  of  God.  He  went  from  chamber  to  chamber 
through  the  hole  in  the  wall.9  He  broke  through 
into  the  sanctuary,  into  the  Temple,  into  the  holy 
of  holies,  and  saw  how  the  name  of  God  was  pro- 
faned. So  God  took  Vincent,  and  gave  to  him 
first  the  life  of  the  Cross — a  life  of  poverty,  a  life 
in  which  he  knew  and  tasted  of  captivity,  of  scorn, 
of  false  accusation,  and  of  a  thousand  other  trials — 
that  He  might  make  him  the  Saint  of  the  poor,  and 
the  Saint  of  the  sufferer,  and  the  Saint  of  all  those 
who  have  to  bear  what  he  called  himself  '  the  burden 
of  his  heart' — the  miseries  and  sufferings  of  his 
brethren.  He  made  him  first  to  taste  these  things  ; 
9  Ezekiel  viii.  7. 


58          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

and  through  his  whole  active  life,  from  the  very  time 
he  put  his  foot  upon  the  threshold  of  his  lifelong 
toil — that  is,  from  the  age  of  forty  to  the  age  of 
eighty-five — he  was  continually  afflicted  by  sickness 
and  by  lameness,  which  almost  nailed  him  to  the 
spot  where  he  was.  So  that  God,  to  confound  our 
wisdom  and  our  prudence,  to  humble  by  a  signal 
contradiction  all  our  modes  of  action,  gave  into  the 
hands  of  a  man  whom  He  tied  as  it  were  to  one  spot 
by  a  burden  of  infirmity,  such  a  power  of  charity, 
such  a  universality  of  direction,  that  he  is  above  all 
the  Saint  of  the  active  works  of  the  Church.  In 
this  way,  God  prepared  Vincent ;  first,  by  giving  him 
an  intense  perception  of  the  spiritual  and  corporal 
miseries  of  mankind,  and  then  an  intense  .charity 
for  their  redress  ;  and  that  intense  charity  contained 
in  it  two  things,  an  exceedingly  tender  pity,  and  a 
perfectly  irresistible  and  unresting  zeal. 

Now  of  this  I  am  sure,  that  St.  Tincent  would 
not  own  us  if  we  met  together  to-day  simply  to 
speak  his  praise  ;  if  we  were  to  meet  and  part  to-day 
without  rendering  to  him  the  highest  and  greatest  act 
of  worship  which  the  Church  pays  her  Saints  ;  that 
is,  a  loving  imitation.  And  what  is  it  he  asks  of 
you  ?  It  is  to  imitate  him,  and  to  do  as  he  did.  The 
highest  veneration  of  the  Saints  of  God  is  to  be  like 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         59 

tlicni ;  and  if  we  desire  especially  to  venerate  any 
particular  Saint,  then  to  be  like  him  in  that  which 
made  him  eminent  among  the  Saints  of  God. 

All  that  I  can  now  do  is  to  enumerate  five  points, 
so  homely  and  so  simple,  in  the  life  and  character 
of  St.  Vincent,  that  there  is  not  one  among  you  who 
may  not  practise  them. 

And  first :  his  greatness  in  the  kingdom  of  God 
began  in  this,  that  he  was  utterly  unconscious  he 
had  anything  great  in  himself.  Of  all  thought  of 
self,  all  thought  of  what  he  possessed,  of  what  he 
was,  of  what  he  could  do,  or  of  what  he  had  done,  of 
all  intentions,  schemes,  theories,  which  depend  upon 
self,  or  hang  upon  self,  he  was  utterly  unconscious. 
Like  our  blessed  Mother,  who  in  her  Magnificat 
glorifies  and  magnifies  the  Lord ;  whose  soul  goes 
forth  out  of  herself,  because,  being  full  of  grace,  she 
was  therefore  unconscious  of  her  greatness ;  so  Vin- 
cent, being  made  an  instrument  of  God  for  this  work 
of  charity,  was  unconscious  that  he  possessed  it  more 
than  other  men. 

Next,  if  we  wish  to  do  anything  for  God,  we  must 
begin  with  self-mistrust ;  we  must  begin  by  simply 
putting  away  all  confidence  in  ourselves,  all  thought 
that,  by  skill  or  contrivance,  by  plans  or  modes  of 
action  depending  upon  pur  human  prudence  and 


60          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

natural  activity,  we  can  do  any  work  for  God.  God 
will  not  accept  the  work  which  has  no  root  higher 
and  purer  than  ourselves.  He  accepts  only  the  work 
which  springs  from  the  root  which  He  plants  in  the 
heart  hy  His  own  supernatural  grace. 

Then  again,  in  St.  Vincent  we  find  an  extraor- 
dinary humility  in  all  the  works  ho  had  to  do.  He 
began  hy  teaching  and  confessing  the  peasants  of 
the  family  in  which  he  was  a  tutor;  he  hegan  hy 
asking  a  congregation  to  send  their  alms  to  a  suffer- 
ing family.  He  did  the  work  which  lay  at  his  door, 
the  act  of  charity  which  was  immediately  before  him; 
the  work  which  belonged  to  the  day,  or  to  the  hour,  or 
to  the  moment,  or  to  the  place,  that  work  he  did.  Imi- 
tate him  in  this.  The  old  proverb,  'Charity  begins  at 
home,'  so  often  quoted  and  so  little  understood,  means 
this  :  the  first  act  of  charity  is  like  tho  expansion  of 
the  circle  in  the  water ;  it  springs  from  its  centre, 
it  cannot  overleap  the  intermediate  space.  Depend 
upon  it,  therefore,  that  if  our  hearts  conceive  great 
thoughts  of  charity,  if  we  dream  of  some  work  at  a 
distance,  while  we  are  not  doing  the  work  of  charity 
which  lies  at  our  very  feet,  it  is  a  mere  illusion. 
Therefore  begin  in  your  homes,  begin  with  your 
own  servants,  begin  with  your  own  neighbours,  begin 
with  your  own  dependents,  begin  with  those  who  arc- 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.         Gl 

brought  into  immediate  contact  with  you.  Charity 
works  as  heat  spreads.  Heat  passes  through  bodies 
that  conduct  it,  gradually  and  steadily  through  the 
whole  mass,  spreading  from  the  point  where  it 
begins.  So  it  is  with  charity.  Let  your  charity, 
then,  begin  in  the  humble  works  of  kindness,  love, 
and  self-denial,  giving  up  your  will,  or  giving  away 
what  you  possess  for  the  good,  corporal  and  spiritual, 
of  those  immediately  about  you. 

And  then  another  mark  in  the  character  of  St. 
Vincent  was  this,  that  though  his  works  were  so 
humble  in  their  beginning,  they  were  perfectly  bound- 
less in  their  scope ;  that  is  to  say,  every  soul  that 
was  in  need,  every  soul  that  was  in  sickness,  every 
misery,  every  want,  his  heart  desired  and  his  soul 
yearned,  as  it  were,  to  find  a  remedy  for.  And 
though  our  hands  are  narrow,  and  though  our  reach 
is  short,  our  hearts  may  be  large ;  and  if  we  love 
God,  we  shall  not  limit  ourselves  to  that  which  is 
round  about  us,  but  we  shall  long  and  desire  to  do 
all  we  can,  and  pray  for  that  which  we  are  not  able 
to  do,  that  God  may  find  some  others  better  fitted 
and  worthier  to  do  it  than  ourselves. 

And  then  lastly,  as  he  began  with  an  utter  un- 
consciousness of  anything  in  himself,  an  utter  absence 
of  all  confidence  in  himself,  he  was  strong  and  mighty 


62          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

in  bis  confidence  in  God  ;  for  he  knew  that  whatever 
is  done  for  the  glory  of  God  must  succeed.  It  may 
not  succeed  in  our  way,  or  in  our  shape,  or  in  our 
time ;  but  be  knew  perfectly,  that  whatever  is  done 
for  the  glory  of  God,  in  God's  own  way,  shape,  and 
time,  must  succeed.  Therefore,  it  was  no  matter  to 
him  whether  a  thing  was  apparently  successful  or 
not ;  he  went  on  steadily,  without  making  himself 
anxious  in  the  least  as  to  the  success  or  failure  of 
his  undertakings ;  for  he  knew  that  essentially  all 
was  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  that  it  must  come  to 
pass  ;  when,  it  was  no  matter  to  him.  Do  you  like- 
wise those  works  which  are  for  the  glory  of  God,  and 
you  shall  have  the  same  confidence  and  peace.  There 
is  no  work  of  charity  which  is  not  for  the  glory  of 
God.  Even  little  things,  small  and  humble  as  they 
are,  may  be  dignified  in  their  character  by  being 
done  for  His  glory. 

And  now  to  make  an  end  of  what  I  have  said. 
While  I  was  speaking  of  the  state  of  France,  I  could 
not  but  think  also  of  the  state  of  England.  England 
has  had  its  shocks  and  its  changes,  and  it  will  have 
more.  It  seems  that  God  is  preparing  for  us  the 
same  revolution  of  charity  of  which  I  have  spoken. 
It  would  detain  me  too  long  to  speak  of  it  now,  and 
perhaps  I  may  hereafter  have  the  time  to  say  some- 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL.          63 

thing  on  the  stats  of  our  own  land.  Enough  for 
me  at  present  to  say  this.  St.  Ignatius  had  held 
the  kingdom  of  France  before  St.  Vincent  was  born ; 
and  all  through  the  time  of  St.  Vincent's  labours, 
he  was  there  with  his  garrison  around  him  holding 
his  ground,  until  at  last  there  came  up  a  multitude 
to  assist  him.  So  in  England,  St.  Ignatius  has  held 
our  land  as  it  were  a  citadel,  waiting  until  the  sup- 
plies come  up ;  watching,  as  we  say  in  war,  until 
reinforcements  come.  The  work  of  St.  Ignatius  in 
England  now  has  a  glory  in  its  proportion  like  the 
glory  of  the  work  of  St.  Benedict  in  England  of  old. 
And  now,  when  God  has  emancipated  His  people 
from  the  iron  bonds  of  penal  laws,  when  He  has  re- 
stored a  hierarchy  to  the  Church,  and  has  willed  once 
more  that  the  faith  and  order  of  the  Catholic  unity 
should  make  itself  felt  throughout  England, — now 
there  come  up  the  reinforcements  of  spiritual  charity. 
St.  Philip  is  come,  with  the  sweet  persuasion  of  his 
interior  and  secret  life ;  and  St.  Charles  is  come, 
mighty  and  glorious  everywhere,  and  at  all  times, 
and  in  all  places,  and  in  all  things,  and  only  weak 
in  England  in  his  weapons  and  his  sons ;  and  St. 
Vincent  is  come,  and  has  entered  into  England  by 
the  north,  and  by  the  centre,  and  by  the  south. 
He  is  in  London  too.  And  though  it  bo  but  a 


04          THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  ST.  VINCENT  OF  PAUL. 

'  very  little'  that  is  here,  feeble,  and  furnished  with 
an  outfit  poorer  even  than  that  with  which  St. 
Vincent  began,  yet  that  little  in  the  hand  of  God  is 
mighty ;  and  all  that  is  needed  is  the  love  and  the 
devotion  of  His  people  ;  only  that  the  faithful  should 
be  faithful,  that  they  should  be  worthy  of  their  name. 
St.  Vincent  calls  on  you  to-day  to  offer  to  him  the 
homage  that  you  owe ;  the  homage  of  your  prayer, 
that  he  would  revive  his  work  in  the  midst  of  us 
and  multiply  it  exceedingly;  and  the  homage  of  your 
aims,  that  you  will  give  according  to  your  power, 
now  and  always — not  to-day  only,  but  hereafter,  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  charity  which  he  practised,  ex- 
plained, and  commented  upon  ;  for  his  life  is  a  page 
of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  brought  home  to  all 
the  states  and  conditions  of  modern  society.  He  has 
taught  you  how,  if  you  cannot  do  works  of  charity 
in  your  own  person,  to  assist  those  that  do;  for  if  all 
cannot  labour,  all  can  pray.  And  then  for  you  also 
his  intercession  will  go  up  in  heaven  ;  and  of  all  the 
hands,  holy  and  undefiled,  that  are  lifted  up  before 
the  Eternal  Throne,  few  there  are  that  prevail  to 
bring  down  a  greater  benediction,  not  only  upon  his 
children,  but  also  upon  his  clients  in  all  the  Church 
throughout  this  evil  world. 


m. 

ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS: 

Within  the  same  Octave. 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOYE  OF  SOULS. 


I  thirst.  ST.  JOHN  xix.  28. 

ALL  the  words  of  our  divine  Lord  have  a  manifold 
meaning,  and  none  more  so  than  the  last  seven 
which  He  uttered  on  the  Cross.  And  of  thoss  seven, 
perhaps  none  are  more  full  than  these — '  I  thirst.' 
For  our  divine  Lord  did  not  only  express  the  thirst 
which  parched  His  lips  in  the  hour  of  His  agony, 
which  was  in  itself  a  symhol  of  a  deeper  mystery ; 
He  spoke  also  of  the  perpetual  thirst  for  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  redemption  of  the  world,  which  had 
consumed  Him  in  every  hour  of  His  three-and-thirty 
years  on  earth ;  in  a  word,  the  thirst  for  souls,  the 
thirst  for  the  salvation  of  men,  the  thirst  for  the 
accomplishment  of  His  passion,  and  the  thirst  for 
the  glory  of  His  Father.  It  was  of  this  He  spoke 
when  Ho  said,  '  I  am  come  to  send  fire  upon  the 


C3  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

earth ;  and  what  will  I  but  that  it  be  kindled  9'1  and 
again,  to  the  disciple  who  was  about  to  betray  Him, 
'  That  which  thou  doest,  do  quickly  ;'2  and  again  to 
them  all :  'I  have  a  baptism,  wherewith  I  am  to  be 
baptised;  and  how  am  I  straitened  until  it  be  ac- 
complished ?'3  Again  and  again,  He  manifested  His 
impatience  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  passion, 
because  it  was  the  redemption  of  the  world,  and  the 
revelation  of  His  Father's  glory. 

And  this  thirst  for  souls,  which  springs  from  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  has  descended  to  the  heart  of 
His  mystical  Body ;  for  the  heart  of  the  Church  is 
the  Heart  of  Jesus.  His  own  presence  and  His  own 
charity,  shed  abroad  in  the  Church,  are  its  heart 
and  life.  The  most  powerful  and  constraining  affec- 
tion of  the  Church  of  Christ  on  earth  has  ever  been 
the  thirst  for  the  salvation  of  men.  From  the  hour 
when  the  Apostles  went  out  with  their  world-wide 
commission,  to  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  bap- 
tising them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost — from  that  hour  the  Church 
has  been  a  missionary  body,  always  sending  forth  its 
evangelists,  always  seeking  and  saving  'that  which 
was  lost  ;'*  going  to  and  fro  in  the  track  of  the 

1  St.  Luke  xii.  49.  *  St.  John  xiii.  27. 

»  St.  Luke  xii.  50.  «  St.  Matthew  xviii.  11. 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OP  SOULS.  69 

Good  Shepherd ;    sending  forth  its  pastors  to  find 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  mystical  Israel  of  God. 

And  this  thirst  for  souls  is  nothing  more  than 
the  heating  and  the  pulse  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  vibrating  through  His  Church,  perpetually 
replenished  by  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
who  first  came  down  upon  the  Apostles,  and  has 
descended  from  age  to  age,  from  succession  to  suc- 
cession, in  the  unction  of  the  Episcopate,  and  in 
the  consecration  of  the  multitude  of  pastors.  It  is 
poured  out  into  the  heart  of  the  priest  when  his 
ordination  makes  him  partaker  of  the  priesthood  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  love  of  souls  has  been  his  mo- 
tive in  seeking  the  priesthood,  and  it  is  multiplied, 
augmented,  and  kindled  more  and  more  in  the  hour 
when  he  receives  the  sacerdotal  grace,  and  his  hands 
are  anointed  in  the  form  of  the  Cross,  that  he  may 
offer  the  Sacrifice  of  Jesus  for  the  sin  of  the  world. 
It  has  been  the  mark  of  every  servant  of  God,  that 
he  has  desired  to  save  first  his  own  soul,  and  then 
to  save  the  souls  of  other  men ;  for  it  is  well  and 
terribly  said,  that  no  priest  shall  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  God  alone.  If  he  has  saved  no  other  soul, 
he  shall  hardly  save  his  own ;  if  his  life  and  his 
influence  has  not  been  such  as  to  convert  others,  he 
shall  hardly  have  walked  in  the  way  of  penance  him- 


70  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

self.  If  he  lias  not  kindled  others  with  the  love  of 
God,  it  is  because  he  has  not  loved  Him.  If  he  has 
not  attracted  others  to  a  life  of  prayer,  it  is  because 
he  has  not  been  a  man  of  prayer.  If,  then,  he  brings 
no  other  soul  to  salvation,  how  hard  shall  it  be  for 
that  priest  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  !  The 
love  of  souls,  therefore,  has  been  the  special  mark  of 
the  servants  and  Saints  of  God.  They  have  been 
greatly  illuminated  in  their  intellect ;  they  have  been 
largely  endowed  with  various  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  with  natural  and  supernatural  perfections ;  but 
these  are  not  the  marks  which  decisively  distinguish 
them  from  other  men.  It  is  the  unresting,  insatiate 
thirst  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  This  is  the  one  in- 
communicable mark  of  the  servants  of  God.  It  is 
a  sense  which  other  men  seem  not  to  possess — a  sort 
of  sixth  sense,  a  spiritual  perception  opened  in  their 
understanding,  and  setting  fire  to  their  heart,  which 
other  men  cannot  understand.  They  cannot  conceive 
why  it  is  that  a  multitude  of  men,  priests  and  lay- 
men, have  in  all  ages  made  themselves  fools,  as  it 
were,  to  save  souls ;  stripped  themselves  of  their 
wealth,  abandoned  their  honours,  left  their  homes, 
exposed  themselves  to  perils,  laid  down  their  lives, 
to  save  souls.  And  what,  after  all,  are  souls  ?  Who 
has  ever  seen  them  ?  The  metaphysicians  and  philo- 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  71 

sophers  of  the  world  tell  us  there  are  no  such  things 
as  souls ;  and  yet  for  these  intangible,  invisible,  and 
incredible  things  the  servants  and  Saints  of  God 
have  worn  themselves  away  by  toil,  and  given  their 
lives  by  martyrdom. 

Now,  the  love  of  souls  is  the  peculiar  feature  in 
the  character  of  St.  Vincent ;  and  this  is  the  point 
I  wish  to  illustrate  from  his  life.  In  what,  then, 
does  the  zeal  for  souls  consist  ?  St.  Vincent's  de- 
scription of  it  is  this :  It  is  an  intense  desire  for 
the  glory  of  God  by  the  destruction  of  sin,  by  the 
cleansing  of  every  spot  from  the  souls  of  men ;  a 
desire  that  souls  may  be  sanctified  in  all  places,  and 
at  all  times,  and  in  all  actions,  and  in  all  words,  and 
in  all  thoughts,  and  in  all  motives,  until  the  words 
of  the  Lord's  Prayer  shall  come  to  pass — '  Hallowed 
be  Thy  name ;  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth,  as  it  is  in 
heaven.'  Now  this,  in  one  description,  is  the  zeal 
or  the  love  of  souls;  and  there  is  mixed  into  it  a 
tenderness,  an  affection,  a  generosity,  a  self-denial, 
and  a  self-sacrifice,  which  consumes  the  man  who 
possesses  it,  or,  rather,  whom  it  possesses. 

I  will  illustrate  this  by  a  few  examples  from  the 
life  of  St.  Vincent ;  for  my  purpose  is  not  to  dwell 
upon  it  in  detail :  and  I  am  induced  to  do  so,  be- 
cause I  am  aware  that  I  speak  to  the  brethren  of 


72  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OP  SOULS. 

the  Conferences  of  St.  Yincont  of  Paul  in  London, 
gathered  together  here  to-day,  whose  work,  in  one 
word,  is  this — to  labour  to  save  souls. 

First,  that  which  may  be  called  the  second  con- 
version of  St.  Vincent,  or  the  turning-point  in  his 
life — that  is,  the  crisis  which  determined  him  to  give 
himself  for  ever  to  labour  for  souls,  and  for  the  souls 
of  the  poor — was  this  :  While  he  was  in  the  court  of 
the  Queen  of  France,  there  was  one  of  her  chaplains, 
a  learned  man,  who  was  intensely  and  perpetually  trou- 
bled by  temptations  against  the  faith.  He  was  so  har- 
assed, and  driven  as  it  were  to  desperation,  by  these 
interior  trials,  that  he  had  no  rest  day  or  night.  His 
life  was  a  misery;  he  could  hardly  say  Mass;  he 
could  hardly  recite  the  Breviary;  he  could  hardly 
say  his  prayers.  At  last  he  came  and  opened  his 
case  to  St.  Vincent.  St.  Vincent  bade  him,  when- 
ever he  was  tempted,  to  point  to  Rome,  and  make 
an  act  of  faith  in  the  infallible  Church  of  God.  He 
practised  this  for  a  while,  but  still  the  temptations 
assailed  him.  St.  Vincent  then  made  a  solemn  offer- 
ing of  himself  to  Almighty  God,  and  prayed  that 
this  spirit  of  temptation  against  the  faith  might 
depart  from  his  poor  brother,  and  might  enter  into 
himself.  He  gave  himself  for  him,  like  a  man  nurs- 
ing another  in  the  plague.  So  it  came  to  pass ;  for 


BT.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  73 

the  chaplain  was  entirely  delivered  from  the  tempta- 
tions against  the  faith,  and  St.  Vincent  from  that 
time  was  tormented  by  them.  He,  in  turn,  could 
hardly  hear  his  own  existence.  After  two  or  three 
years  in  this  state  of  trial,  he  once  more  made  an 
offering  of  himself;  and  that  offering  was  to  labour, 
living  and  dying,  for  the  souls  of  the  poor,  if  only 
Almighty  God  would  set  him  free.  God  accepted 
his  offering.  He  was  entirely  delivered  from  these 
spiritual  trials ;  and  how  he  kept  his  word  his  whole 
life  attests. 

Again,  we  find  that  St.  Vincent  had  an  extra- 
ordinary desire  for  martyrdom.  He  was  perpetually 
saying ;  '  I  would  to  God  that  I  could  go  to  India, 
or  to  a  heathen  country,  and  that  there  I  might  en- 
joy the  happiness  of  preaching  to  the  poor  heathen, 
and  of  laying  down  my  life  for  the  sake  of  Christ.' 
He  said,  when  eighty  years  old,  '  With  all  my  in- 
firmities upon  me,  and  with  my  legs  so  swollen 
that  I  cannot  walk,  if  only  I  could  go  to  India  —  if 
I  could  only  go  to  some  heathen  land  and  die  a 
martyr  —  I  would  go,  even  though  I  were  to  die  by 
the  way.'  Again,  when  some  of  his  Fathers  were 
in  the  city  of  Genoa,  where  the  plague  was  raging, 
he  wrote  to  them,  and  said :  '  Spare  not  yourselves ; 
spare  nothing ;  spare  not  your  health ;  spare  not 


7-1  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

even  your  life ;  for  what  is  it  to  lay  down  life  for 
the  sake  of  Jesus,  and  the  souls  for  whom  He  died?' 
Again,  he  wrote  to  the  Fathers  who  were  in  Barbary, 
and  said :  '  If  one  soul  is  so  precious,  that  we  can- 
not refuse  to  give  our  natural  life  to  save  it,  how 
much  more  precious  are  the  multitudes  of  souls 
amongst  whom  you  labour !  Spare  not  your  lives, 
but  be  willing  to  give  yourselves  for  the  love  of 
Jesus.'  And  when  bowed  down  with  years — that  is, 
some  five  years  before  his  death,  entirely  overcome  as 
he  was  with  infirmities  gathering  heavily  upon  him 
— even  then  he  insisted  upon  going  as  companion 
with  some  of  his  Fathers  to  give  a  Mission,  and,  with 
his  swollen  and  enfeebled  limbs,  he  took  part  in  the 
whole  of  their  labours. 

Again,  we  read,  he  said  :  '  If  only  I  could  save  a 
soul  by  giving  myself  for  it,  I  would  count  that  my 
life  was  well  bestowed.'  And  he  was  ready,  with 
his  own  life,  to  save  not  only  the  spiritual  life  of 
his  neighbour,  but  the  temporal  life  also ;  for  when 
once  he  saw  a  poor  peasant  followed  by  a  band  of 
soldiers,  with  their  weapons  drawn,  to  take  his  life, 
he  threw  himself  between  them,  and  there  stood 
to  receive  the  death  which  they  were  about  to  in- 
flict upon  the  other.  And  this  same  spirit  has 
descended  to  his  children;  for  in  one  of  the  last 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  75 

revolutions  in  Paris,  one  of  his  daughters  —  whose 
name  can  never  be  mentioned  without  veneration, 
for  it  is  certainly  written  in  the  Book  of  Life,  the 
'So3ur  Rosalie —  when  a  poor  man  had  fled  into  a 
doorway,  and  armed  men  were  following  him,  came, 
and  like  her  father,  placed  herself  upon  the  thres- 
hold, saying :  '  If  you  take  the  life  of  this  man,  it 
is  through  mine.'  In  one  word,  I  may  say  that 
St.  Vincent  was  kindled  with  this  love  for  souls  to 
such  an  extent,  that  it  was  the  one  dominant  passion 
of  his  long  life.  It  governed  him,  it  penetrated 
him  through  and  through,  it  circulated  through  his 
blood,  it  beat  in  his  heart,  and  was  the  one  law  of 
his  existence.  The  whole  life  of  St.  Vincent  may 
be  summed  up  in  it.  It  was  seen  not  only  in  his 
own  labours,  but  also  in  the  joy  he  had  in  the 
labours  of  those  whom  he  had  gathered  around  him ; 
and  not  only  in  the  labours  of  his  own  sons  and 
daughters,  but  in  the  labours  of  all  the  servants  of 
God.  He  took  an  intense  delight  in  the  successes 
of  all  those  who  were  gathering  in  souls  for  Jesus 
Christ;  as,  for  example,  in  the  missions  of  the 
Jesuit  Fathers,  of  whom  he  said,  '  Our  Fathers  are 
only  fit  to  bear  the  burdens,  or  to  gather  up  the 
few  gleanings  after  these  great  reapers  in  the  field 
of  our  Lord.' 


76  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  or  SOULS. 

Let  us  now  enter  into  this'  matter  a  little  more 
closely.  Why  are  we  bound  to  have  this  zeal,  this 
thirst  for  the  salvation  of  souls  ?  What  are  the  mo- 
tives and  reasons  for  it  ? 

1.  And,  first,  what  is  the  soul  ?  Have  you  ever 
appreciated  what  it  is  ?  Next  after  God,  it  is  the 
most  glorious  and  the  most  precious  of  all  heings 
that  exist.  It  is  the  likeness  of  God.  A  soul  has 
an  endless  capacity,  either  of  bliss,  which  is  the  par- 
ticipation of  the  beatitude  of  God,  or  of  an  agony 
which  the  heart  of  man  cannot  conceive.  Even  in 
the  little  child,  whom  you  pass  in  the  street,  there 
is  the  capacity  of  a  sanctity,  of  a  love  of  God,  of 
a  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  an  eternal  beatitude, 
which  they  alone  can  apprehend  who  are  before  the 
Throne.  Even  in  the  poor  little  bare-headed,  bare- 
footed children  that  perish  in  our  streets,  there  is 
this  mystery  of  eternal  life,  this  immortality,  and 
this  boundless  capacity  for  the  love  and  the  bliss 
of  God.  They  may  be  angels,  and  heirs  with 
angels,  to  all  eternity ;  or  they  may  become  devils, 
and  companions  of  devils,  to  all  eternity.  And  as 
the  image  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man  is  its  beauty 
and  its  glory,  so  its  darkening  and  distortion  is 
its  deformity  and  its  death.  If  the  image  of  God 
in  the  soul  be  extinguished  by  sin,  no  words  but 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  77 

the  words  of  our  Lord  can  describe  its  doom, — 
'  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  extin- 
guished.'5 This,  then,  is  the  first  motive  to  the 
love  of  souls — that  they  must  be  for  ever  in  eternal 
life  or  in  eternal  death ;  in  eternal  bliss,  or  in  eternal 
misery ;  in  eternal  joy,  or  in  eternal  anguish. 

How  is  it  possible  that  we  believe  these  things, 
and  that  wo  can  live  so  tamely,  so  self-indulgently, 
so  "carelessly,  and  so  full  of  self-love,  squandering 
upon  ourselves  that  by  which  we  know  not  how  many 
souls  might  be  saved  ? 

2.  Then  farther.  If  we  would  appreciate  the 
value  of  souls,  we  must  endeavour  to  understand  how 
God  loves  every  several  soul  that  He  has  created.- 
But  if  we  do  not  feel  the  love  of  God  to  our  own 
souls,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  we  are  not  able  to. 
appreciate  the  love  of  God  to  others.  God  has 
made  the  soul  to  His  own  image;  that  is,  He  has 
communicated  to  it  all  that  He  can  bestow.  There 
is  nothing  that  He  has  kept  back  except  His  own 
nature ;  for  the  nature  of  God  is  uncreated,  and  the 
uncreated  nature  cannot  be  communicated.  God 
has  therefore  communicated  to  us  all  that  He  can 
of  His  perfections,  His  image  and  likeness.  He  has 
given  us  an  intellect,  a  will,  a  heart  fall  of  loving 
«  St.  Mark  ix.  45. 


78  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  or  SOULS. 

affections;  and  God  so  loves  the  creature  He  has 
made — and  made  to  the  perfect  likeness  of  Him- 
self— that  when  man  sinned,  He  gave  His  own  Son 
to  redeem  him.  Therefore  St.  Vincent  used  to  say: 
'  My  brethren,  love  every  soul,  for  this  reason :  every 
soul  is  th'e  image  of  God,  and  every  soul  is  the  ob- 
ject of  the  love  of  God.' 

3.  And  then  again.  Every  soul  is  purchased  by 
the  Blood  of  Jesus;  and  the  purchase-price  fixes  its 
worth.  If  you  desire  to  appreciate  what  a  soul  is 
worth,  take  the  price  of  the  Blood  of  Jesus.  This 
is  the  mark  which  stamps  it  with  its  true  value. 
Our  Lord  spoke  with  a  divine  truth  when  He  said  : 
'"What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  suffer  the  loss  of  his  own  soul  ?  or  what 
shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  ?'6  The 
soul  of  man  is  so  inappreciable  by  man,  that  the 
only  way  for  God  to  make  us  understand  what  a 
soul  is  worth  was,  that  His  own  Son  should  become 
incarnate,  and  give  His  precious  Blood  for  it.  The 
ransom  is  the  measure  of  its  worth ;  but  this  ransom 
is  infinite  in  price,  and  the  price  of  the  soul  there- 
fore exceeds  all  the  measures  we  can  conceive.  And 
so  St.  Vincent  used  to  say:  '0,  my  Jesus,  what 
brought  Theo  from  heaven?  what  made  Thee  b<3- 
•  St.  Mark  viii.  38,  37. 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  79 

come  man  ?  what  made  Thee  shed  Thy  Blood  upon 
the  Cross  ?  It  was  the  love  of  Thy  neighbour.' 
And  again  he  said  :  '  Poor  priest,  who  goest  about 
begging  for  bread,  and  sleepesfc  under  the  corner 
of  the  hedge,  pierced  through  with  cold,  what  has 
brought  thee  to  this  ?  The  love  of  thy  neighbour.' 

4.  Another  reason  is,  because  every  soul  is  in 
such  danger  of  perishing — because  it  is  so  easy  to 
perish — because  it  is  so  hard  to  be  saved.  Our  di- 
vine Lord  has  said :  *  Narrow  is  the  gate  and  strait 
is  the  way  that  leadeth  to  life,  and  few  there  are  that 
find  it.  Wide  is  the  gate  and  broad  is  the  way 
that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and  many  there  are 
who  go  in  thereat.'7  But  why  is  it  so  hard  to  be 
saved,  and  so  easy  to  be  lost?  Because  sin  is  so 
strong  and  so  subtle,  and,  what  is  worse,  so  sweet. 
Because  sin,  with  its  seven  mouths,  and  with  its 
seven  streams  of  poisonous  breath,  the  seven  mortal 
sins  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  spirit,  is  so  alluring 
and  so  intoxicating,  that  myriads  of  souls  are  slain 
by  it.  Because  the  world  is  so  fair,  so  bright,  and 
so  dazzling,  and  sin  is  like  a  net  spread  over  the 
face  of  the  earth,  that  few  are  the  feet  that  are  not 
entangled  in  it  at  some  time,  and  many  are  tho 
feet  that  do  not  escape  out  of  the  net  at  last.  Bo- 

'  St.  Matt.  vii.  13,  14. 


80  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

cause  self  is  so  powerful  and  so  deceitful,  that  few 
are  they  who  are  not  living  for  self  rather  than  for 
God.  For  'all  seek  the  things  that  are  their  own, 
and  not  the  things  that  are  Jesus  Christ's.'8  Be- 
cause many  there  are  who  will  find  at  last  that  they 
have  been  living  for  themselves,  that  is,  'without 
God  in  this  world.'9 

Among  the  sorrows  of  Jesus  in  Gethsemani,  the 
thought  of  the  multitudes  that  shall  be  lost  was 
heaviest  of  all.  Under  the  shadows  of  the  olive-  • 
trees  He  saw  before  Him  the  countless  showers  of 
lost  souls  descending  into  the  pit :  and  that,  after 
all  His  passion,  after  all  His  agony,  after  all  His 
love,  to  be  lost  eternally ;  and  in  the  anguish  of  that 
vision  His  sacred  Blood  trickled  like  great  drops  of 
sweat  upon  the  ground. 

Throughout  the  whole  world,  among  the  races 
of  the  heathen,  souls,  created  in  the  likeness  of 
God,  capable  of  knowing,  of  loving  God,  and  of 
being  crowned  with  glory  through  all  eternity,  are 
dying  without  light  and  without  Christ  in  the  world. 
Year  by  year,  and  day  by  day,  and  moment  by 
moment,  they  are  ascending  up  before  the  Judge, 
all  seamed,  and  scarred,  and  maimed,  and  with  the 
plague-spot  ©f  sin  upon  them;  and  from  the  presence 
•  Philip,  ii.  21.  •  Ephes.  ii.  12. 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  81 

of  their  Judge  fall  like  the  dead  leaves  in  autumn 
into  the  outer  darkness,  or  like  the  rain  that  comes 
upon  the  hungry  sea,  and  is  lost  for  ever.  And  this 
is  going  on  perpetually  —  hour  by  hour,  moment 
by  moment,  and  not  only  outside  the  one  visible 
Church  of  God,  in  which  alone  is  salvation,  but  in 
the  Church  itself;  among  those  who  are  baptised 
and  illuminated  by  the  faith,  and  Catholic  in  name, 
among  them,  too,  souls  are  dying  in  multitudes  who 
may  never  see  God,  never  enter  into  eternal  life. 
Multitudes,  so  far  as  man  sees,  are  being  lost.  Look 
at  this  great  city  where  we  are.  Of  the  deaths  that 
are  recorded  week  by  week,  I  ask  you  how  many 
of  these  die  with  the  last  sacraments?  how  many 
of  them  die  with  acts  of  contrition?  how  many 
may  we  believe  in  the  last  day  will  stand  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Judge  ?  And  this  is  going  on 
perpetually,  day  and  night.  It  is  so  easy  for  men 
to  be  lost.  Look  back  only  on  your  own  life.  It 
has  been  perhaps  chequered  all  along  alternately 
with  states  of  sin 'and  states  of  grace.  There  have 
been,  I  daresay,  in  the  lives  of  most  of  us,  ten  times, 
ay,  and  with  some  a  hundred  times,  in  which  if 
Almighty  God  had  cut  us  off,  we  must  have  died 
eternally.  There  have  been  seasons  in  our  life  — 
sometimes  for  'a  whole  year  together,  sometimes 

G 


82  BT.  VINCENT  S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

more ;  for  three,  four,  six,  eight,  yes,  and  ten  years 
it  may  be — when  we  were  living  in  a  state  of  mortal 
sin.  If  Almighty  God  had  cut  us  off  at  any  moment 
at  that  time,  where  should  we  have  been  eternally  ? 
Salvation  would  have  been  impossible.  It  may  be 
there  have  been  seasons  of  mortal  sin  only  for  a 
day,  in  which,  if  God  had  cut  us  off  before  the  sun 
went  down,  salvation  would  have  been  impossible 
to  all  eternity.  How  great,  then,  may  be  the  mul- 
titude of  the  lost !  Beyond  all  the  count  the  human 
heart  can  conceive  are  those  who  may  die  out  of 
the  state  of  grace.  What,  then,  is  the  love  of  souls 
but  this? — a  thirsting  desire  to  go  to  and  fro,  be- 
seeching and  inviting,  and  warning  and  praying 
men  to  take  heed  to  their  eternal  salvation,  lest  at 
any  time  the  day  should  come  as  a  thief  in  the 
night  and  find  them  unprepared,  in  mortal  sin,  and 
therefore  out  of  the  grace  of  life  eternal.  Look, 
then,  round  about  you  in  this  great  city;  and  is 
there  one  of  us  who  believes  in  the  worth  of  tho 
s<5ul,  or  the  love  of  God,  or  th6  danger  of  being 
lost,  or  the  multitudes  that  are  lost,  that  can  fail 
to  feel  upon  his  conscience  the  heavy  weight,  which 
St.  Vincent  called  'his  burden  and  grief,'  that  is, 
the  sins  and  miseries  of  souls  ? 

5.  There  is  still  one  motive  of  which  I  would 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  83 

speak ;  that  is,  the  glory  and  bliss  of  the  soul  that 
is  saved — the  eternal  joy  of  the  soul  that  enters 
into  the  beatific  vision,  illuminated  with  a  knowledge 
of  God,  and  inflamed  with  a  love  of  God,  and  so  is 
united  by  vision  and  by  union  to  the  ever-blessed 
Trinity  to  all  eternity.  Can  the  heart  of  man  con- 
ceive, ever  so  imperfectly,  such  bliss  as  this,  and  yet 
be  cold,  as  we  are  cold?  Is  it  not  rather  that  we 
hardly  conceive  it  at  all  ?  Would  it  be  possible  to 
conceive  it,  however  little,  and  not  be  set  on  fire  so 
as  to  thirst  for  souls  and  for  salvation  ?  "Would  it  be 
possible  for  men  who  felt  this  to  commit  a  sin  with 
their  eyes  open,  or  to  be  tame,  lukewarm,  irresolute, 
and  undecided  in  their  will.  Think  also  of  the  joy 
of  those  who  shall  enter  into  the  eternal  home,  where 
they  shall  find  once  more  all  whom  they  have  loved, 
kindred  and  friends,  all  bonds  of  life  transfigured, 
all  eternal  in  the  everlasting  house  of  our  heavenly 
Father;  in  the  presence  of  Jesus,  and  of  all  His 
Saints,  who  have  loved  them  while  on  earth,  and 
prayed  for  them,  and  in  the  charity  of  the  heavenly 
court  have  thirsted  for  their  salvation  while  they 
were  in  peril  in  the  world.  Into  such  a  bliss  every 
soul  whom  you  bring  to  the  knowledge  of  Jesus, 
and  to  the  sacraments  of  salvation,  shall  enter  when 
it  passes  hence.  Is  it,  then,  possible,  if  men  arc 


84  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

governed  by  motives,  and  if  the  strongest  motives 
govern  men  most  strongly,  that  we  can  count  any- 
thing of  worth  compared  with  winning  one  soul  to 
eternal  life  ? 

This,  then,  is  what  governed  the  life  of  St.  Vin- 
cent. This  is  the  explanation  of  the  long  life  of 
eighty  and  five  years  spent  in  ceaseless  toil.  Ask 
for  one  spark  of  this  sacred  fire.  Pray  that  you  may 
have  it  but  a  little ;  for  to  have  it  in  his  measure  is 
more  than  we  dare  to  ask.  He  was  a  Saint  of  God, 
and  we  are  but  sinners.  Let  us  ask  of  God  just  such 
a  spark  of  this  fire  of  charity  as  poor  sinners  may  ask 
to  have. 

And  now  I  will  but  add  a  few  short  words  before 
I  end. 

We  have  already  seen  what  was  the  social  and 
religious  state  of  France  when  St.  Vincent  arose  to 
do  his  work ;  how  it  was  corrupt  both  spiritually  and 
morally ;  how  all  classes  of  society  were  torn  asunder 
and  set  in  opposition ;  and  how  one  source  of  that 
corruption  was  the  secularity  and  the  weakness  of 
the  Church  in  France,  through  the  power  and  the 
despotism  of  the  state ;  how  the  civil  power  had 
bound  the  Church  hand  and  foot,  so  as  to  hinder  its 
vigorous  and  saving  action  upon  the  souls  of  the 
people.  It  was  its' jealousy  against  the  Holy  Seo 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  85 

which  inspired  the  state  and  the  monarchy  of  France 
to  bind  the  Gallican  Church  by  bonds  which  are  mis- 
called liberties,  but  were  truly  servitudes  and  slaveries. 
By  separating  it  from  the  Holy  See,  as  far  as  possible 
without  the  breach  of  external  unity,  the  civil  power 
enslaved  the  Church  in  France.  It  could  not  do  its 
work  with  power,  because  it  could  not  do  it  with 
freedom.  Its  spiritual  action  upon  the  people  grew 
feebler  and  feebler  from  generation  to  generation. 
And  it  was  in  such  a  state  of  society,  as  we  have 
seen,  that  St.  Vincent  arose.  His  first  work  was  to 
tell  the  rich  that  they  who  possessed  wealth  and 
power  in  this  world  will  have  to  give  account  before 
the  judgment -seat  of  Almighty  God  for  every  soul 
that  through  their  neglect  should  die  without  the 
knowledge  of  Christ.  He  told  them  that  their  money 
was  given  them  as  a  stewardship ;  that  if  souls  died 
round  about  them  in  ignorance  of  the  faith,  they 
would  have  to  answer  for  the  use  and  application  of 
the  means  which  God  had  intrusted  to  them.  He 
admonished  the  noble  family  in  which  he  lived  of  the 
duty  of  teaching  the  peasants  who  tended  their  herds 
and  tilled  their  soil.  He  began  as  our  Lord  did, 
facere  et  docere,  both  to  do  and  to  teach.  He  pro- 
pagated throughout  France  the  sense  of  responsibility 
in  the  rich.  Next,  he  taught  the  poor  that  to  know 


86  BT.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

God  is  an  inheritance  far  better  and  greater  than  the 
good  things  of  this  world;  he  made  both  rich  and 
poor  to  be  Christians,  and  so  he  brought  them  toge- 
ther. In  this  way  he  began  to  redress  the  miseries 
and  inequalities  of  society.  He  then  taught  them  to 
see  that  the  inequalities  between  classes  are  merely 
accidental;  that  there  is  an  essential  equality — a 
unity  between  all  those  for  whom  Jesus  died,  and 
that  one  soul  is  as  precious  in  the  sight  of  God  as 
another.  Perhaps  it  may  be  found  that  the  soul  of 
the  poor  man  is  more  precious  in  the  sight  of  God 
than  the  soul  of  the  rich,  because  more  adorned  with 
the  graces  of  humility  and  poverty  of  spirit,  of  meek- 
ness and  of  gentleness.  He  taught  men  the  true 
value  of  man  by  teaching  the  true  value  of  souls, 
which  are'  to  be  estimated  not  by  the  light  of  the 
world,  nor  the  maxims  of  the  world,  but  by  the  light 
which  falls  from  the  eternal  presence  and  the  judg- 
ment-seat of  God.  The  sentence  which  shall  be 
passed  at  the  last  day,  is  the  only  measure  which 
cannot  mislead.  He  thus  penetrated  the  whole  of 
society  by  the  extraordinary  activity  of  his  life.  He 
quickened  it  with  every  form  and  ministry  of  mercy, 
by  the  Fathers  of  the  Mission,  and  the  Sisters  of 
Charity,  and  the  seven  congregations  of  religious  wo- 
men whom  he  either  formed  or  organised.  In  every 


BT.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  87 

diocese  there  was  a  diocesan  congregation;  in  every 
parish  there  was  a  parochial  confraternity  of  laymen 
united  together  to  labour  for  souls.  The  spirit  of 
charity  went  through  the  whole  body  and  structure 
of  society,  organising  it  as  it  spread,  and  by  its  or- 
ganisation and  its  unity  of  action  becoming  more  and 
more  efficient  and  lasting. 

This,  then,  was  St.  Vincent's  work  in  life  ;  and, 
as  I  said  to  you  the  other  day,  Almighty  God  was 
preparing  two  great  revolutions  for  Franco ;  one  of 
charity,  and  another  of  chastisement.  The  revolution 
of  charity  in  His  mercy  came  first  as  a  prelude.  The 
revolution  of  chastisement  came  afterwards,  tardily, 
but  justly,  as  a  punishment.  A  hundred  years  passed 
away  before  the  revolution  of  chastisement  came. 
If  the  revolution  of  charity,  that  true  and  only 
reformation,  which  springs  from  the  love  of  God 
and  our  neighbour,  had  taken  effect,  and  brought 
France  back  again  to  filial  submission  to  the  Holy 
See,  and  to  Catholic  generosity  in  the  works  and 
fruits  of  love ;  if  the  Catholic  society  of  France  had 
been  pervaded  and  matured  by  the  spirit  of  super- 
natural charity,  the  baptisms  of  blood,  in  which 
France  has  been  immersed  in  a  series  of  political 
revolutions,  might  have  been  averted. 

Let  me  apply  this  in  like  manner  to  England. 


88  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

What  we  call  Christendom  —  the  Christian  society 
of  Europe  —  was  the  work  and  creation  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  For  fifteen  hundred  years  the  social 
life  of  England  was  an  integral  part  of  the  Christian 
and  Catholic  world.  Three  hundred  years  ago  it  re- 
volted. Of  its  own  perverse  will  it  chose  to  found 
itself  upon  the  order  of  nature ;  upon  the  power  and 
wisdom  of  legislation ;  upon  the  skill  of  statesmen  ; 
and  to  derive  its  social  well-being,  not  from  the 
Church  of  God,  but  from  the  natural  endowments 
of  society  itself.  It  professed  to  find  the  fountain  of 
its  own  well-being  within  its  own  limits;  and  the 
statesmen  of  England  have  been  intoxicated  by  the 
material  splendour  and  prosperity  of  its  great  com- 
mercial empire,  and  believe  at  this  moment  that 
they  are  redressing  what  are  called  social  evils,  and 
that  they  are  about  to  make  the  society  of  England 
peaceful,  prosperous,  and  religious,  by  the  action  of 
human  prudence,  natural  benevolence,  and  the  like. 
I  would  to  God  that  I  may  be  altogether  deceived ; 
but  if  I  am  convinced  of  any  truth,  it  is  this,  that 
for  the  last  three  hundred  years  England  has  been 
gradually  departing  farther  and  farther  from  the  love 
and  from  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  the  spirit 
and  life  of  Christendom,  and  has  been  immersing 
itself  more  and  more  profoundly  in  the  spirit  of  this 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  89 

proud  world,  the  friendship  of  which  is  enmity  against 
God.  After  this  I  see  but  one  result;  that  the  revo- 
lution of  chastisement,  which,  sooner  or  later,  falls 
upon  every  nation  which  has  separated  itself  from 
the  unity  of  the  Church  of  God,  will,  in  the  end,  fall 
upon  England,  Whether  in  your  day  or  mine,  I 
cannot  say ;  how  many  generations  hence,  I  cannot 
tell ;  but  as  it  needs  no  spirit  of  prophecy  to  foretell 
the  results  of  axioms  and  self-evident  laws,  so  we 
need  no  more  than  to  appreciate  the  principles  which 
now  govern  England  both  in  politics  and  religion,  to 
foretell  its  future. 

Look,  first,  at  the  condition  of  the  classes  of 
England  ;  the  separation  of  the  rich  from  .the  poor ; 
at  the  unequal  distribution  of  wealth ;  at  the  un- 
wieldy miseries  and  irremediable  distresses  of  our 
millions.  Private  charity  is  exhausted  ;  public  relief 
breaks  down ;  and  pauperism  and  hunger  gain  head 
against  all  we  do.  We  were  told  the  other  day,  that 
every  week  one  person  at  least  dies  of  actual  starva- 
tion in  London.  Whether  that  be  so  or  not,  I  cannot 
tell ;  it  is  a  statement  put  forward  by  those  who 
ought  to  know.  With  all  our  wealth  and  skill  and 
pride  of  government,  the  political  powers  of  the  world 
are  incapable  of  redressing  evils  such  as  these,  which 
are  the  degradations  of  barbarism,  not  the  maladies 


90  ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

of  Christian  society.  There  is  only  one  power  that 
can  redress  these  social  evils,  that  is,  the  super- 
natural power  of  charity.  There  is  nothing  for  us 
hut  the  revolution  of  charity — the  action  of  God — 
the  return  of  God  and  His  kingdom  into  this  land, 
that  can  preserve  us  from  the  scourge  which  threatens 
us  now. 

And  who  can  accomplish  this  revolution  of  charity  ? 
Only  one  power,  which  England  has  despised  for 
three  hundred  years — against  which,  at  this  moment, 
it  is  warring  with  all  its  might.  Has  the  Established 
Church  of  England  the  power  to  redress  the  mise- 
ries and  the  evils  which  afflict  the  population  of  this 
country  ?  Not  one-half  of  the  people,  even  in  name, 
profess  to  belong  to  it ;  and  the  other  half  are  torn 
and  distracted,  divided  and  subdivided,  by  every  form 
of  religious  dissent,  perpetually  widening  farther  and 
farther  asunder.  Is  the  power  of  charity  and  religion 
working  upon  the  masses  of  the  population  so  as  to 
penetrate  them  ?  Is  it  uniting  them  together  ?  Re- 
ligion in  England  is  the  very  wedge  of  division — that 
which  is  splitting  society  in  England  asunder,  is  re- 
ligious controversy.  There  is  nothing,  then,  to  be 
found  in  the  established  religion,  and  much  less  in 
the  dissenting  religions  of  England,  which  can  check 
the  development  of  the  evils  we  see  before  us.  What 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  91 

power  can  do  so  ?  Only  that  one  so  long  despised. 
Charity  is  no  abstraction.  It  has  its  presence  and 
its  form  on  earth.  It  was  first  organised  in  the 
Catholic  Church  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  has 
wrought  throughout  the  world  from  that  day  to  this. 
It  has  borne  its  fruits  in  a  thousand  Saints  like  Vin- 
cent of  Paul,  and  contains  in  itself  the  ever-fresh 
and  inexhaustible  vigour  of  its  youth  in  every  land 
and  age.  In  this  country,  after  three  hundred  years 
of  martyrdom  and  of  penal  laws,  it  has  been  again 
restored  to  its  form  and  dignity.  It  is  clothed  once 
more  in  the  hierarchy,  which  the  undying  See  of 
Peter  restored  to  England  ten  years  ago.  The  whole 
land  rose  up  in  tumult  against  it,  and  confessed  its 
supernatural  presence  by  a  strange  enmity  and  fear. 
But  just  as  France  was  organised  by  the  charity  and 
zeal  of  Vincent  and  his  companions,  who  spread  all 
over  France  a  network,  as  it  were,  of  charities,  so  the 
one  only  power  which  can  ever  reunite  the  classes  of 
England  in  bonds  of  mutual  submission  and  benevol- 
ence, is  the  universal  action  of  the  same  supernatural 
charity  which  springs  from  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus, 
and  is  applied  by  the  equal  operation  and  the  divine 
unity  of  the  Church  of  God. 

And  of  this  we  seem  to  see  the  preludes.    The 
Church  is  restoring  and  marshalling  its  Orders  and 


l>a  ST.  VINCENT  S  LOVE  OF  SOULS. 

its  Congregations.  The  Saints  are  sending  their  sons 
into  England.  They  are  taking  up  their  positions 
like  the  columns  of  an  army  of  occupation.  Even 
the  laity  of  the  Catholic  Church  are  uniting  them- 
selves together,  as  in  these  Conferences,  which  cover 
the  whole  of  London,  and  act  with  a  perfect  unity  of 
operation  in  every  place. 

This  is  the  point  with  which  I  wish  to  end : 
multiply  your  numbers.  Every  parish  in  London 
may  be  divided  into  those  who  are  so  poor  as  to  need 
alms,  or  those  who,  being  removed  above  the  poor, 
are  able  to  give  alms.  Every  man  who  is  above  that 
line,  that  water-mark,  ought  to  be  a  brother  of  St. 
Vincent.  First,  multiply  the  members  of  your  Con- 
ferences, and  then  mark  down  all  the  kinds  and  all 
the  forms  of  misery — such  as  want,  ignorance,  and 
poverty,  and  sin  —  around  you.  Do  as  St.  Vincent 
did ;  mark  down  the  evils,  and  Almighty  God  will  give 
you  the  mind  and  the  strength  to  find  the  remedies. 
The  first  thing  is  to  make  a  map  of  our  miseries, 
and  then  to  find  a  coextensive  remedy,  by  the  organi- 
sation of  charity,  which  shall  spread  over  the  whole 
field  of  the  sufferings  and  sins  of  our  people.  Do 
you  say  that  this  is  a  great  work  ?  Almighty  God, 
who  made  the  world  and  became  incarnate,  can  do 
all  things.  This  mighty  mass  of  population  in  Lon- 


ST.  VINCENT'S  LOVE  OF  SOULS.  93 

don  is  not  so  weighty,  but  that  He  can  balance  it  in 
the  hollow  of  His  hand.  He  can  convert  it  by  one 
inspiration  of  His  grace,  and  make  it  like  unto  the 
city  of  Nineveh,  a  city  of  penance  unto  salvation. 
Let  us  therefore  have  confidence ;  and  let  us  bear  in 
mind  this  truth,  that  on  the  bed  of  death,  and  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  to  have  saved  one  soul  will  be  not 
only  better  than  to  have  won  a  kingdom,  but  will 
over-pay,  by  an  exceeding  great  reward,  all  the  pains 
and  toils  of  the  longest  and  most  toilsome  life. 


IV. 

THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT: 

Within  the  same  Octave. 


THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT. 


When  he  had  ended  the  commandments  wherewith  he  instructed 
his  sons,  he  drew  up  his  feet  upon  the  bed,  and  died :  and  ho 
was  gathered  to  his  people.  GENESIS  xlix.  32. 

THE  Holy  Ghost  in  these  words  describes  the  death 
of  the  patriarch  Israel ;  calm,  collected,  and  majestic 
—  a  death  in  peace,  after  a  long  life  of  faith.  It 
was  he  who  had  said,  '  With  my  staif  I  passed  over 
this  Jordan,  and  now  I  return  with  two  companies  ;'1 
that  is  :  There  was  a  time  when  I  was  an  outcast, 
a  stranger,  and  in  poverty;  I  had  nothing  but  the 
staff  on  which  I  leaned ;  but  Thou  hast  multiplied  to 
me  the  gifts  and  the  possessions  of  life,  and  hast  made 
me  two  companies  —  a  numerous  house.  Such  he 
became  in  life ;  and  when  he  came  to  die,  he  was 
greater  still.  His  small  beginnings  had  great  end- 
ings. He  was  the  father  of  twelve  patriarchs,  and 
they  were  twelve  princes  in  Israel ;  the  heads  and 
the  fathers  of  twelve  tribes.  And  the  twelve  tribes 
1  Genesis  xxxii.  10. 

H 


98  THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT. 

"became  a  mighty  nation,  a  great  monarchy,  of  some 
sixteen  centuries  in  duration.  Of  him,  too,  camo 
the  line  of  the  faithful ;  so  that  he  became  the  patri- 
arch of  many  nations,  for  from  that  lineage  came  the 
incarnate  Son  of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  God,  in  all 
nges  and  in  all  times,  until  the  end  of  the  world. 

Now  this  seems  to  set  before  us,  in  its  propor- 
tion, the  death  of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul.  I  have  said 
that  he  was  like  the  servant  who  received  the  '  one 
pound,'  the  '  very  little,'  which  his  fidelity  had  multi- 
plied until  it  became  a  great  gain.  The  one  pound 
gained  ten  pounds,  and  for  his  reward  he  received 
authority  over  ten  cities.  So,  at  the  end  of  life,  Yin- 
cent,  sitting,  as  it  were,  in  calm  expectation  upon 
the  threshold  of  the  eternal  kingdom,  looked  back 
over  the  work  of  his  life.  He  remembered  the  time 
when,  from  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees,  as  a  shepherd- 
boy,  he  looked  out  in  hope  and  wonder  into  some 
dim  future.  A  great  desire  to  serve  God,  with  a 
sense  of  the  love  of  God,  was  rising  in  him,  without 
light  or  knowledge  to  know  what  he  should  be  called 
to  do.  But  now,  as  life  was  closing,  he  looked  back 
to  the  time  when  he  was  a  solitary  captive  in  Bar- 
bary;  when,  under  the  lash  of  his  master,  he  was 
sent  to  labour  in  the  fields.  Life  then  seemed  to 
him  all  but  ended.  "What  was  there  before  him? 


THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT.  99 

A  death  without  martyrdom ;  a  death  without  so 
much  as  a  name  to  leave  behind.  And  then  again 
the  loving  providence  of  God  changed  the  course  of 
his  life.  lie  found  himself  once  more  in  France, 
a  priest,  going  out  to  labour  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord.  Yet  how  little  were  his  expectations,  even 
then  !  In  his  own  eyes  he  was  doing  nothing,  and 
he  did  not  venture  to  plan  or  to  conceive  any  great 
enterprise  of  faith.  Little  by  little,  his  works  grew 
on  him  :  they  came  unsought ;  his  companions  in- 
creased in  number ;  his  spiritual  children  multiplied 
beyond  all  hope  or  thought.  And  now,  as  life  was 
ending,  he  found  himself  to  be  the  father  of  a  mul- 
titude, a  patriarch  surrounded  by  many  spiritual  sons, 
the  fathers  of  many  tribes  in  the  Israel  of  God. 
In  his  retrospect  he  might  say,  indeed,  that  with 
his  staff  he  had  passed  over  Jordan.  He  had  gone 
up  from  his  home  and  his  herd  at  the  foot  of  the 
Pyrenees,  bearing  with  him  nothing  but  the  word 
and  the  love  of  God,  and  God  had  multiplied  him 
to  a  great  family.  Doubtless  these  were  some  of  the 
thoughts,  sweet  and  consoling,  in  Vincent's  heart, 
when  that  long  life  of  eighty-five  years  was  closing 
in.  But  that  of  which  I  have  to  speak  is  not  so 
much  his  consolations  in  looking  upon  the  past, 
as  the  last  great  consummation,  whereby  he  entered 


100  THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT. 

into  the  reward  of  his  labours.  Therefore,  what  I 
propose  to  do,  is  to  touch  very  briefly  on  what  we 
find  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  last  years  and 
days  of  his  life. 

And  the  first  remark  I  would  make  is,  how  great 
were  his  sorrows  towards  the  end  of  life ;  how  great 
in  this  was  the  conformity  of  St.  Vincent  to  his  Lord, 
the  Man  of  sorrows ;  and  how  peculiar  some  of  his 
sorrows  were.  They  were  sorrows  which  could  only 
attach  to  a  life  and  a  heart  like  his.  He  had  lived 
for  eighty -five  years,  a  life  extending  beyond  the 
ordinary  life  of  man ;  and  from  the  time  he  had 
begun  to  labour,  almost  two  generations  of  men  had 
passed  away.  Therefore  he  had  seen  fall  beside  him, 
under  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day,  first  one  and 
then  another  of  his  companions  and  his  sons.  They 
hud  been  taken  from  him,  sometimes  by  pestilence, 
sometimes  by  lingering  sickness ;  by  various  forms 
of  death ;  sometimes  by  labour,  spent  and  worn  out 
in  the  toils  of  missionary  life.  One  by  one,  they  had 
been  gathered  from  him ;  he  was  left  tarrying  alone ; 
lingering  as  St.  John  lingered,  when  the  Apostles, 
one  by  one,  went  up  to  receive  their  crown,  and  he 
was  left  the  last  alone  on  earth.  St.  Vincent  was 
wont  to  say,  '  Alas  for  me,  that  my  pilgrimage  on 
earth  is  so  long  drawn  out !'  '0  Lord,  Thou  drawest 


THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT.  101 

into  Thy  kingdom,  one  by  one,  Thy  servants  that 
are  well-pleasing  to  Thee ;  but  me  Thou  leavest,  who 
am  the  most  unworthy  of  all.  Why  do  I  cumber  the 
ground  ?  Thou  leavest  me  in  displeasure,  and  Thou 
gatherest  unto  Thy  reward  and  Thy  crown  those  who 
have  laboured  better  than  I.'  And  then,  as  life  drew 
on,  he  lost  those  who,  to  him,  were  dearest,  because 
they  were  the  foremost  and  the  first  in  his  labours  of 
charity.  One  of  his  first  companions — he  to  whom  he 
had  committed  the  direction  and  care  of  his  spiritual 
family,  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  who  had  toiled  in 
that  work  for  some  thirty  or  forty  years — was  taken 
from  his  side  just  as  his  own  end  was  approaching. 
The  founder  also  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity — she  who 
had  so  long  laboured  under  his  guidance — was  like- 
wise taken  before  him.  He  was  left  alone,  solitary 
in  the  world ;  God  had  detached  him  from  all  things, 
not  only  from  kindred  and  from  the  common  things 
of  life,  but  now  from  those  hearts  most  like  his  own, 
with  whom  he  was  united,  not  by  the  bonds  of  con- 
sanguinity, but  by  the  much  more  intimate  and  con- 
straining bonds  of  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ.  Even 
these,  one  by  one,  were  taken  away,  and  he  was  left, 
as  it  were,  alone  upon  his  Calvary,  stripped  of  all — 
solitary,  and  waiting  the  hour  of  his  departure. 

And  then  observe  how  his  long  life  brought  with 


102  THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT. 

« 

it  a  multitude  of  trials.  Life  is  like  a  long  voyage,  in 
which  we  must  meet  with  storm  and  with  sunshine, 
and  then  with  storm  again ;  and  as  we  know  in  the 
regions  of  the  sea  there  are  zones  where  storms  pre- 
vail, so,  towards  the  end  of  his  long  life,  he  entered 
into  the  period  of  affliction.  God  tried  him  by  those 
last  great  sorrows,  greater  than  the  crosses  which  he 
had  borne  before.  All  those  who  were  united  to  him 
in  the  bonds  of  tender  love,  in  the  love  of  God  and 
of  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  were  taken  from  his  side. 

Another  point  to  be  observed  in  his  death  is 
this :  how  great  were  his  sufferings, — I  mean  his 
bodily  sufferings.  We  have  seen  that  for  forty-five 
years,  almost  from  the  very  first  year  when  he  en- 
tered upon  his  active  life,  he  had  suffered  perpetually 
by.  swellings  of  the  feet  and  -legs,  which  rendered 
him  lame,  and  sometimes  almost  motionless.  Five- 
and-forty  long  years  of  an  irresistible  zeal  and  irre- 
sistible activity  were,  as  it  were,  clogged  and  cum- 
bered by  the  weakness  of  the  body.  He  was  unable 
to  move,  and  was  obliged  to  be  carried  to  and  fro 
on  his  works  of  love.  For  the  last  two  years  of  his 
life  he  was  literally  fixed  to  the  spot  where  he  dwelt. 
His  feet  were  ulcerated,  and  his  knees  stiff  with 
swelling,  so  that  he  was  unable  even  to  ascend  the 
altar  to  say  Mass.  This  increased  to  such  an  extent 


'  THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT.  108 

that  lio  was  obliged  to  have  his  poor  swollen  limbs 
suspended  by  a  cord  to  the  ceiling,  so  that  by  arti- 
ficial help  he  might  move  them.  I  hardly  know 
anything  more  like  the  meditation  upon  our  divine 
Lord  lying  upon  His  cross,  with  a  crowd  round 
about  Him,  and  those  soft  breathings  of  inaudible 
words  by  which  our  divine  Master  made  known  to 
His  Blessed  Mother  the  agony  of  the  crucifixion, 
than  what  we  read  of  St.  Vincent,  who,  when  his 
poor  suffering  limbs  were  moved,  was  heard,  in  a 
mere  respiration,  to  say,  '  0,  my  Saviour !  0,  my 
Saviour !'  the  only  words  of  complaint  that  ever 
escaped  him  in  his  anguish. 

During  all  this  suffering,  he  allowed  himself  no 
dispensations.  There  was  an  endurance  in  the 
bearing  of  these  pains,  which  seems  altogether  su- 
pernatural. First  of  all,  he  would  never  lie  upon  a 
soft  bed ;  he  used  to  require  that  they  should  move 
him  and  lay  him  upon  a  hard  pallet  on  the  ground. 
When  his  friends  and  his  spiritual  children  brought 
him  food  which  they  thought  would  suit  his  appe- 
tite, he  used  to  reject  it ;  yet  he  would  taste  it  first, 
lest  they  should  be  pained  at  the  rejection,  and  then 
ask  that  it  might  be  taken  from  him.  When  the 
reigning  Pope,  hearing  of  his  infirmities,  sent  him 
a  dispensation  from  the  recitation  of  Office,  he  de- 


104  THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT. 

clined  it.  In  all  his  suffering,  and  in  all  the  dis- 
traction which  conies  from  bodily  pain,  he  persevered 
in  the  recital  of  the  Office  even  to  the  last*  When 
he  was  unable  to  say  the  holy  Mass  in  the  church, 
he  with  great  difficulty  consented  to  be  carried  to 
say  his  Mass  in  the  chapel  of  the  Infirmary.  He 
refused  to  accept  the  privilege  granted  to  him,  to 
have  an  altar  erected  in  the  chamber  next  his  own, 
saying,  that  these  were  privileges  so  great  as  only  to 
be  used  in  extremities,  and  he  thought  himself  not 
arrived  at  such  an  extremity  as  would  justify  his 
accepting  them.  St.  Vincent  was  profuse  in  his  ten- 
derness to  others,  to  himself  alone  he  was  severe ; 
he  who  would  relieve  the  least  pain  of  any  fellow-crea- 
ture endured  his  own,  and  rejected  the  alleviations 
and  indulgences  which  were  offered  for  his  relief. 

Through  all  these  sufferings,  great  as  they  were, 
he  had  an  entire  peace.  It  would  appear  as  if  his 
one  thought  was  for  others,  and  as  if  he  had  no 
sorrow  for  himself.  Even  as  we  read  of  our  divine 
Lord,  who  said,  'Because  I  have  spoken  these  things 
to  you,  sorrow  hath  filled  your  heart  ;'2  and  again, 
'  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled ;  in  My  Father's 
house  there  are  many  mansions.'3  So  it  seemed  with 
St.  Vincent.  For  himself  he  had  no  thought,  sava 

1  St.  John  xvi.  6.  3  Ib.  xiv.  1,  2. 


THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT.  105 

only  a  longing  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
tempered  by  a  profound  humility  in  the  thought  of 
his  unfitness  to  appear  before  Him.  We  find  the 
most  beautiful  traits  of  this  spirit  of  tenderness  to 
others,  and  of  this  continual  watchfulness  in  prepar- 
ing himself  for  death,  which  he  looked  for  with  a 
great  desire.  Every  day,  after  holy  Mass,  as  soon  as 
he  had  made  his  thanksgiving,  he  said  the  Office  for 
those  who  were  in  the  agony  of  death.  It  had  been 
his  practice  for  eighteen  years.  He  had  been  habitu- 
ally united  in  sympathy  with  the  dying;  through 
his  long  life  he  had  died  with  them  day  by  day ;  he 
had  been  continually  rehearsing  the  preludes  of  his 
own  last  hour,  so  as  to  make  himself  familiar  with 
it.  Every  night,  when  he  lay  down  to  rest,  he  pre- 
pared his  soul  as  though  he  should  never  wake 
again.  Thus  it  was  his  continual  exercise  to  pre- 
pare himself  morning  and  night  for  his  last  passage. 
One  of  the  priests  of  his  Congregation,  perhaps  not 
able  to  understand  the  greatness  of  his  interior  life, 
and  supposing  that  one  who  had  been  for  so  many 
years  given  without  reserve  to  external  works  of 
charity  for  others,  might  in  some  degree  have  for- 
gotten the  preparation  of  his  own  soul  to  appear 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  God,  wrote  a  letter  to 
one  of  the  community,  knowing  that  it  must  pass 


106  THE  DEATH  OP  ST.  VINCENT. 

througli  the  hands  of  Vincent,  in  which  he  expressed 
his  hope  that  their  reverend  father  "was  preparing 
himself  for  his  last  hour.  When  Vincent  saw  the 
letter,  instead  of  being  offended,  he  sent  for  the 
priest  and  thanked  him,  begging  him  to  say  if  he 
saw  anything  in  him  which  implied  that  he  was  not 
prepared  to  give  up  his  account.  When  the  priest, 
in  confusion,  said  that  he  could  not  presume  to  say 
such  a  thing,  he  added,  '  Speak  with  all  freedom  ;  if 
there  is  anything  you  see  in  me,  let  me  know  what 
it  is,  for  it  is  easy  to  deceive  ourselves.'  He  then 
said,  '  For  eighteen  years  I  have  been  preparing 
myself  for  death.'  To  another  who  spoke  with  him 
of  his  end,  he  said,  '  There  is  but  -one  thing  which 
troubles  me  now ;  it  is,  that  we  have  not  finished  our 
rules,'  that  is,  the  rules  of  his  Congregation.  Such 
was  his  state  of  preparation ;  and  therefore  it  was, 
that  to  one  who  was  afraid  of  death,  and  who  spoke 
to  him  of  the  fear  of  dying,  he  answered,  '  Think  of 
death  once  or  twice  in  the  day,  and  then  put  the 
thought  from  you  ;  do  not  dwell  upon  it ;  or,  if  you 
find  thinking  of  death  once  or  twice  in  the  day  in- 
spires you  with  fear,  do  not  think  of  it  at  all ;'.  that 
is  to  say,  '  Prepare  yourself  to  meet  God,  but  pre- 
pare yourself  in  another  manner ;  for,'  he  said,  '  the 
best  preparation  for  death  is  a  life  of  good  works — a 


THE  DEATH  OP  ST.  VINCENT.  107 

life  of  humility  and  charity,  for  the  salvation  of  souls 
and  for  the  consolation  of  those  that  suffer.  This  is 
the  way  not  to  fear  death ;  and  if,  after  a  life  like 
this,  you  are  assailed  with  fear,  place  absolute  con- 
fidence in  God,  and  ask  Him  to  take  it  from  you  as 
a  temptation.' 

And  then,  lastly,  his  death  drew  near.  How  can 
I  describe  it  ?  All  that  I  can  venture  to  do  is  to 
narrate  that  which  we  read.  First,  what  should  we 
expect  of  one  whose  life  was  so  like  the  life  of  our 
Lord,  and  whose  mind  was  so  much  the  mind  of  a 
little  child,  but  that  when  he  came  to  die,  his  death 
should  be  childlike  too  ?  And  certainly,  among  all 
the  deaths  of  the  Saints  of  God,  I  hardly  know  one 
which  is  marked  with  greater  tranquillity  and  calm- 
ness, peace  and  sweetness,  like  the  sleep  of  a  little 
child.  All  his  long  eighty-five  years,  from  the  time 
when  he  kept  his  father's  sheep,  and  among  the  herds 
of  the  field  lived  in  the  spirit  of  prayer,  was  the  life 
of  a  child  of  God.  He  had  a  right  to  die  as  a  child, 
for  he  had  lived  as  a  child ;  and  they  who '  live  as 
children  of  God  have  a  right  from  their  heavenly 
Father  to  die  in  His  bosom,  to  die  as  the  patriarch 
died  of  old,  by  '  the  mouth  of  the  Lord,'  that  is,  as  it 
were,  by  the  kiss  of  the  lips  of  their  heavenly  Father. 
But  he  had  also  another  title  and  another  right  to 


108  THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT. 

die  with  this  singular  childlike  peace ;  for  his  whole 
life  of  active  charity,  in  himself  and  in  his  spiritual 
children,  had  been  devoted  to  consoling  those  who 
were  in  the  agony  of  death.  He  had  laboured  for 
forty  years  to  gain  a  good  and  happy  death  for  others, 
and  therefore  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  his ; 
*  Blessed  is  he  that  understandeth  concerning  the 
needy  and  the  poor:  the  Lord  will  deliver  him  in  the 
evil  day ;  the  Lord  help  him  on  his  bed  of  sorrow. 
Thou  hast  turned  all  his  couch  in  his  sickness.'4 
That  is,  like  as  the  kind  and  tender  nurse  turns  the 
pallet,  smoothes  the  pillow,  and  makes  again  the  bed 
tumbled  with  the  pain  and  agony  of  death,  so  the 
hand  of  God  comes  at  that  hour  to  those  who  have 
been  merciful  in  consoling  the  sick  and  tending  the 
dying,  and  makes  all  their  bed  in  their  agony.  This 
is  their  special  privilege.  Who,  then,  I  ask,  had  a 
better  right  than  Vincent  to  this  great  and  last  gift 
of  God's  love  ?  And  God  was  faithful  to  His  word. 
It  was  on  the  25th  of  September  (the  day  before 
yesterday,  as  it  were),  when  he  was  in  the  house  of 
St.  Lazarus  in  the  midst  of  his  spiritual  children, 
where  he  had  lain  motionless  for  two  long  years,  that 
his  hour  came.  He  was  found  in  a  kind  of  sleep, 
like  the  slumber  of  a  child.  His  attendant  woke  him, 
<  Psalm  xl.  2,  4. 


THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT.  109 

and  his  answer  was,  '  It  is  only  the  brother  corne  to 
call  the  sister,'  that  is,  it  is  sleep,  the  prelude  of 
death.  He  knew  his  time  was  come.  On  the  26th 
of  September,  that  is,  yesterday  as  it  were,  his  soul 
began  to  shroud  itself  from  this  world,  as  it  opened 
itself  to  the  fulness  and  glory  of  the  Eternal.  As  he 
lay  sleeping  in  his  chair,  one  of  the  older  fathers  of 
the  Congregation  came  to  him,  and  said,  '  Father,  give 
your  blessing  to  all  that  are  present,  and  all  that  are 
absent.'  Vincent  began  the  ordinary  form  of  bene- 
diction with  a  loud  and  articulate  voice ;  but  before 
he  had  uttered  half  the  words  his  voice  grew  faint, 
and  he  ended  his  benediction  as  the  patriarch,  who, 
after  he  had  given  all  the  commandments  wherewith 
he  instructed  his  sons,  gathered  himself  up  to  depart. 
Then  his  voice  failed  him.  During  the  day,  from 
time  to  time,  they  suggested  to  him  words  of  conso- 
lation. But  the  only  words  which  drew  from  him  an 
articulate  response  were,  '  0  God,  come  to  my  assist- 
ance ;'  to  which  he  always  answered,  '  0  Lord,  make 
haste  to  help  me.'  These  were  the  only  words  that 
fell  from  him.  At  last,  there  came  a  friend  from  a 
distance  to  tell  him  that  the  conference  of  priests, 
whom  he  had  gathered  together  to  meet  periodically 
for  spiritual  exercises,  needed  to  bo  supported,  and 
he  asked  his  blessing  upon  them,  that  they  might 


110  THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VIXCEXT. 

continue  in  the  good  spirit  in  which  he  had  founded 
them.  To  this  he  answered,  in  the  words  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  putting  thereby  a  seal  upon  his  own  life  : 
'  He  who  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  per- 
fect it  unto  the  day  of  Christ  Jesus.'5  These  were 
the  last  articulate  words  from  the  lips  of  St.  Yincent 
of  Paul.  After  this  he  fell  into  a  sleep,  and  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  as  the  day  was  breaking, 
at  the  hour  when  his  spiritual  children  in  all  their 
churches  were  in  prayer,  at  the  very  hour  in  wrhich, 
for  forty  long  years,  he  had  solemnly  invoked  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  the  works  of  his  life,  without 
a  sign,  or  a  motion,  or  a  sound,  he  passed  into  the 
presence  of  his  Lord.  Such  was  the  transit  of  St. 
Yincent  of  Paul ;  a  calm  sleep  bare  him  into  eternal 
life — for  death  it  can  hardly  be  called;  and  so  he 
ascended  to  receive  the  power  and  joy  of  his  Lord. 
In  that  moment  his  eyes  were  opened  to  see  the  pre- 
sence of  Jesus,  the  Sacred  Humanity  in  the  glory  of 
the  Father,  the  throne  of  the  Immaculate  Mother, 
the  Apostles,  the  Evangelists,  the  bishops  and  pas- 
tors of  the  flock  of  God — the  Saints  who  had  illumi- 
nated the  Church  by  their  light,  or  kindled  it  by  their 
charity — all  the  company  of  the  elect,  gathered  to- 
gether in  burning  circles  of  glory  round  about  tho 

i.  6. 


THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT.  Ill 

throne  of  the  Incarnate  Word.  And  mingled  with 
them  he  saw  his  own  spiritual  children,  the  Fathers 
of  the  Missions  and  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  taken  be- 
fore him  to  their  joy  in  the  two  generations  through 
which  he  had  lived  and  toiled.  There  too  he  saw 
those  who,  through  their  preaching  and  instruction, 
had  been  gathered  into  eternal  life;  the  harvesting 
of  those  five-and-forty  years — thousands  and  tens  of 
'thousands  of  poor  and  of  little  ones,  of  foundlings 
and  of  orphans,  who  had  received  the  word  of  life 
and  the  grace  of  salvation  from  his  spiritual  sons  and 
spiritual  daughters.  They  too  were  round  about  the 
throne,  and  their  voices  were  like  the  voice  of  many 
waters  going  up  in  thanksgiving  and  in  praise  before 
the  throne  of  God;  for  he  was  come  at  last  to  his 
glory  and  his  crown,  who  had  been  the  messenger  of 
salvation  to  them  all.  And  then  came  to  pass  in 
him  the  words  of  the  prophet  Daniel,  with  a  fulness 
and  an  amplitude,  with  an  intensity  and  a  splend- 
our, which  has  seldom  been  surpassed :  '  They  who 
are  learned  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  fir- 
mament, and  they  that  instruct  many  to  justice,  as 
stars  for  all  eternity.'6  The  brightness  of  the  fir- 
mament, and  the  light  of  the  eternal  stars,  were  tho 
raiment  and  the  crown  of  Vincent.  Seated  on  his 

«  Dan.  xii. 


112  THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT. 

throne  he  has  reigned  from  that  hour,  and  he  reigns 
there  still,  as  a  king  hearing  rule  over  the  Israel  of 
God.  He  reigns  too  there  as  a  priest,  who  has  offered 
the  precious  Blood  for  the  redemption  of  the  world  ; 
he  reigns  there  as  a  mediator  whose  prayers  prevail 
with  God ;  he  reigns  there  as  a  minister  whose  hands 
distribute  grace ;  he  is  reigning  and  will  reign  until 
Jesus  comes  to  judgment.  And  his  accidental  glory 
has  increased,  and  shall  increase  until  time  shall  he 
no  more. 

We  are  met,  then,  to  keep  a  great  festival  to-day. 
Let  us  not  depart  without  raising  a  lasting  memorial 
of  it.  If  you  love  the  Saint  whom  we  commemorate 
— if  you  love  him,  who  certainly  among  the  Saints  of 
God  is  one  of  the  loveliest,  for  his  life  hreathed  love, 
his  steps  imprinted  love  upon  the  earth;  from  his 
hands  he  distilled  the  works  of  love,  and  diffused  the 
sweet  influences  of  charity  wherever  he  went ;  if  you 
love  his  life,  if  you  love  his  works,  if  you  desire  to 
see  them  established  and  multiplied,  I  ask  you  to  join 
with  us  at  this  time  in  erecting,  in  memory  of  this 
jubilee,  of  this  bi-centenary  of  his  passage  to  glory, 
an  altar  in  this  church,  where  his  spiritual  children, 
labouring  for  souls  in  this  parish,  may  venerate  his 
name  and  patronage.  Send  your  contributions,  either 
to  the  fathers  of  this  church,  or  to  the  Sisters  of 


THE  DEATH  OF  ST.  VINCENT.  113 

Charity  in  this  parish.  A  duty  of  gratitude  rests 
upon  you  towards  one  who  was  a  herald  of  the  love  of 
God  to  the  world.  If  we  desire  to  be  his  children, 
there  is  but  one  way  to  be  so ;  that  is,  by  living  as  he 
lived,  and  dying  as  he  died.  If  you  desire,  at  the  end 
of  a  long  life,  full,  as  it  may  be,  of  toil,  sorrow,  and 
anxiety,  to  fall  asleep  in  the  childlike  death  of  St. 
Vincent,  though  not  indeed  in  the  overpassing  mea- 
sure and  multitude  of  peace  which  was  his,  then  live 
a  life  of  charity,  of  kindness,  tenderness,  patience,  and 
meekness.  Be  able  to  say  what  he  said :  '  As  for 
mine  enemies,  let  them  pluck  out  my  eyes,  so  they 

will  leave  me  a  heart  to  love  them.'    Ask  for  this 

• 
spirit ;  love  your  enemies,  do  good  to  them  that  hate 

you,  and  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  you  and 
persecute  you.  Such  was  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  such 
the  love  of  Vincent.  Ask  for  it  through  his  prayers ; 
pray  that  the  charity  of  God  may  bo  poured  forth  in 
your  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  then,  when  your 
life  draws  to  its  end,  and  you  look  back  over  its  toils 
and  sorrows,  there  will  come  to  you,  from  the  sarns 
source,  peace  and  an  assurance  of  eternal  life  :  the 
memory  of  an  active  life  spent  for  His  sake,  and 
the  peace  of  God  from  the  fountain  of  all  hope,  the 
pierced  side  of  Jesus,  and  the  precious  Blood  which 
alone  gives  merit  to  all  good  works. 

i 


Y. 

THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF 
ST.  THOMAS: 

In  San  Carlo,  Rone,  1034. 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHUECH  OF 
ST.  THOMAS. 


And  of  His  kingdom  there  shall  he  no  end.  Sx.  LUKE  i.  33. 

I  AM  commissioned  to  lay  before  you  the  reasons  for 
rebuilding  the  ancient  Church  of  St.  Thomas  of 
Canterbury,  which  stood  by  the  side  of  the  English 
College.  It  was  destroyed  by  the  great  revolution 
which,  at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  passed  over 
Italy  and  Eome. 

First  is  this  fact,  that  of  all  the  leading  nations 
of  Europe,  England  alone  possesses  no  church  in 
Rome.  The  Church  of  all  nations  recognises  and 
cherishes  the  Christian  and  Catholic  nationalities, 
which  are  its  own  offspring.  In  Rome  all  meet  as 
in  a  common  home.  Distinct  in  accent  and  in  his- 
tory, they  are  all  one ;  for  '  of  one  He  hath  made  all 
nations  on  the  earth.'  The  revelation  of  Pentecost 
has  made  them  to  be  of  one  faith,  though  of  many 
tongues.  It  is  only  the  spurious  nationalism  which 
generates  the  pride  of  disobedience,  and  by  thia 


118    RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

both  heresy  and  schism,  against  which  the  Church 
in  its  authority  and  unity  arrays  itself.  And  now 
that  England  has  entered  once  more  into  closer  rela- 
tions with  the  Holy  See,  and  the  concourse  of  our 
countrymen  in  Eome  is  becoming  every  year  greater, 
it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  church  with 
pastors  of  our  race  and  speech,  for  the  many  who 
— though  they  may  learn  the  language  of  other 
countries  enough  for  the  common  uses  of  life — never 
attain  to  such  a  command  as  is  necessary  for  the 
ministrations  of  the  Church,  especially  in  the  time 
of  sickness,  or  the  hour  of  death.  There  is,  more- 
over, a  sympathy  of  kindred,  and  a  homely  sense  of 
charity  and  trust  between  pastor  and  flock  of  the 
same  race  and  people,  which  is  not  easily  found 
among  those  who  have  not  this  common  bond. 

Already  France,  Austria,  Spain,  Portugal,  Pied- 
mont, Belgium,  Poland,  Sclavonia,  Greece,  Ireland, 
Scotland,  Naples,  Sicily,  Lombardy,  Venice,  Lucca, 
Genoa,  the  United  States,  the  Armenians,  the  Ma- 
ronites,  the  Copts,  the  Ruthenians,  and  others,  have 
their  churches  in  Rome.  It  would  not  be  well  that 
England  alone  should  be  absent  from  such  a  family 
of  nations. 

But  this  is  only  the  first,  and  I  may  say  the 
least,  motive  to  this  work.  The  restoration  of  the 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.    119 

church  is  due  to  our  great  Martyr  for  his  own  sake, 
and  for  the  cause  for  which  he  died.  And  it  is  to 
this  that  I  would  now  ask  your  thoughts. 

The  beloved  disciple  heard  in  heaven  the  voices 
of  the  Saints,  crying :  '  The  kingdom  of  this  world 
is  become  our  Lord's  and  His  Christ's,  and  He  shall 
reign  for  ever  and  ever.'1 

What  was  this  but  the  fulfilment  of  the  words  of 
promise  and  of  prophecy  spoken  by  the  angel  to  the 
Mother  of  God,  '  of  His  kingdom  there  shall  be  no 
end'?2  The  kingdom  which  Jesus  founded  is  not 
from  hence,  as  He  declared,  but  it  is  here,  as  St. 
Augustine  interprets ;  'Hie,  sednon  hinc;'  founded  on 
the  earth,  mingling  with  all  the  affairs  of  men,  and 
directing  them,  both  as  individuals  and  as  nations. 
The  Church  derives  its  authority  from  a  fountain 
in  the  eternal  world — that  is,  from  the  bosom  of 
God  Himself.  It  is  God  reigning  amongst  men.  It 
derives  its  existence  from  Him,  so  as  to  be  a  shadow 
of  His  self-existence  among  the  creations  of  the  will 
of  man.  It  is  endowed  by  Him  with  supernatural 
endowments,  which  make  it  suffice  in  all  things  to 
itself.  It  has  an  imperishable  life,  an  indestructible 
outward  organisation,  an  infallible  voice,  and  an  in- 
dissoluble unity,  from  which  fragments  indeed  may 
*  Apoc.  xi.  15.  •  St.  Luke  i.  33. 


120    EESTORATION  OF  THE  CHUBCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

fall ;  but  their  fall  does  not  impair  its  absolute  and 
indivisible  oneness.  And  by  reason  of  these  prero- 
gatives it  is  sovereign  over  the  reason  and  the  will  of 
inen.  It  is  an  inadequate  and  superficial  notion  of 
the  Church  to  conceive  of  it  only  in  the  sphere  of 
intellectual  and  spiritual  ideas,  as  an  ethical  and 
speculative  philosophy  for  the  illumination  and  exer- 
cise of  the  reason,  with  no  relation  to  the  will  or 
to  the  actions  of  men,  except  so  far  as  they  are 
willing  to  listen  to  its  counsels :  a  sort  of  mystical 
paradise  upon  earth,  in  which  gentle,  unpractical, 
feminine  natures  may  converse,  apart  from  the  desti- 
nies of  mankind  and  the  government  and  course  of 
the  world.  Such  was  the  insolent  advice  of  one  who, 
some  years  ago,  counselled  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ 
'to  inhabit  peaceably  the  serene  sphere  of  dogma,' 
and  there,  while  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  violating 
the  laws  of  God  and  of  His  Church,  '  to  pray,  to 
bless,  and  to  pardon.'  Such  has  not  been  the  office 
of  the  Church,  nor  of  the  Vicar  of  our  Lord.  The 
Church  descended  from  the  guest-chamber  crowned 
with  the  sovereignty  of  the  world.  The  Apostles  of 
Jesus  were  constituted  in  one  body,  possessing  a  per- 
fect government  in  itself,  independent  of  all  human 
wills,  and  of  all  human  authority.  The  Church 
possesses  in  itself  a  perfect  freedom  of^its  own — a 


RESTORATION  OP  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.    121 

freedom  of  legislation,  a  freedom  of  judicial  pro- 
cedure, a  freedom  of  executive  power.  Its  members 
p.re  subject  to  it,  not  only  in  the  matter  of  their  faith, 
but  of  their  moral  conduct;  not  only  in  their  rela- 
tions to  the  life  to  come,  but  also  to  this.  It  has 
not  only  a  spiritual,  but  a  civil  mission  to  mankind. 
It  came  into  contact  with  the  empire  of  the  world, 
and  was  declared  by  the  supremo  civil  authority  to 
be  an  illicit  society,  incapable  of  holding  property, 
incapable  even  of  legal  existence.  Nevertheless,  in 
the  midst  of  all  hostile  powers,  it  not  only  existed, 
but  possessed ;  not  only  possessed,  but  expanded, 
and  subdued  races,  nations,  and  kingdoms  to  itself. 
It  began  to  rule  over  its  own  patrimonies,  and  to 
elevate  them  to  the  highest  Christian  cultivation. 
The  first  Christian  society  known  upon  the  earth  was 
the  creation  and  offspring  of  the  Christian  Church ; 
then  followed  Christian  nations  and  kingdoms ;  and 
finally  Christendom,  or  the  world -wide  family  of 
nations  and  kingdoms  united  in  one  common  faith 
and  lav;,  and  under  one  common  head  and  father, 
who  is  not  only  Pastor  over  pastors,  but  even  over 
kings ;  kingly  himself,  but  more  than  king,  superior 
to  all,  by  the  character  and  authority  of  the  Vicar  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Such  is  the  Catholic  Church  :  a  true 
and  proper  kingdom ;  not  spiritual  only ;  but  not 


122   RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

earthly,  yet  on  earth ;  eternal,  but  also  in  time ;  freo 
both  by  the  freedom  of  its  commission  and  jurisdic- 
tion, its  doctrine  and  its  discipline  within  the  sphere 
of  its  supernatural  office,  and  also  by  the  liberation 
of  its  head  from  all  human  sovereignties,  and  by  his 
supreme  direction  of  all  other  powers  upon  earth. 
Such  is  the  freedom  of  the  Church ;  and  such  is 
the  source  of  its  immunities  or  exemptions  from  many 
of  the  laws  which  govern  the  natural  order  of  the 
world. 

But  to  constitute  this  kingdom,  a  divine  law  of 
suffering  was  ordained :  '  Sine  sanguinis  effusione  non 
fit  remissio;'3 — 'without  shedding  of  blood  there  is 
no  remission ;'  and  without  the  Passion  of  Jesus  the 
kingdom  of  God  was  not  to  be  founded  on  the  earth. 
He  was  crowned ;  but  it  was  Avith  thorns ;  yet  the 
thorns  testified  to  His  royalty.  He  was  anointed 
with  the  royal  unction  of  His  precious  Blood.  Jesus 
the  King  of  martyrs  upon  Calvary  has  revealed  to 
us  the  law  by  which  His  power  is  established  over 
the  world.  So  it  has  ever  been  from  the  beginning  : 
He  has  glorified  Himself,  His  truth,  and  His  laws 
by  the  sorrows  and  the  sufferings  of  His  disciples. 
'  The  disciple  is  not  above  his  master,  nor  the  ser- 
vant above  his  Lord.'4  '  If  they  have  persecuted 
»  Heb.  ix.  22.  «  St.  Matt.  x.  24. 


RESTORATION  OP  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.    123 

Me,  they  will  also  persecute  you.'5  '  Wonder  not, 
brethren,  if  the  world  hate  you.'6  '  Know  ye  that  it 
hated  Me  before  it  hated  you  ;'7  and  yet  '  pretiosa 
in  conspectu  Domini  naors  sanctorum  ejus.'  He  will 
not  lightly  suffer  them  to  be  afflicted ;  not  a  hair  of 
their  head  can  perish  without  their  Father ;  and  He 
wills  it  only  so  far  as  it  is  for  the  perfection  of  His 
Church.  Each  one  has  his  testimony  to  bear,  and 
to  seal  with  his  sorrows,  it  may  be.  with  his  blood. 
St.  Stephen  fell  asleep  under  a  pitiless  storm  of 
stones  for  the  testimony  of  the  Messias ;  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul  witnessed  by  martyrdom  to  the  uni- 
versality and  unity  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus ;  St. 
Lawrence  bore  witness  to  the  sacredness  of  its  gifts 
and  possessions;  St.  John  Nepomucene  testified  to 
the  inviolable  seal  of  the  confessional ;  St.  Thomas 
to  the  liberties  of  the  Church — to  the  great  and 
supernatural  immunities  which  liberate  the  Church 
from  the  supremacy  of  all  earthly  power.  No  more 
luminous  proof  of  this  truth  can  be  found  than  in 
the  line  of  the  Vicars  of  Jesus  Christ.  Forasmuch 
as  the  liberty  and  sovereignty,  the  purity  and  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Church  are  especially  committed 
to  their  charge,  they  have  had  most  to  suffer.  The 
world  has  warred  against  them  with  a  special  direct- 
•  Bt.  John  xv.  20.  •  1  St.  John  iii.  13.  '  St.  John  xv.  18. 


12-1    RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

ness  and  a  singular  concentration  of  its  enmity. 
And  they  have  withstood  the  world  with  a  constancy 
derived  from  the  patience  of  their  divine  Master.  A 
line  of  Pontiffs  has  withstood  a  line  of  Csssars.  The 
supreme  civil  power  of  the  day  has  always  found  in 
them  a  limit  to  its  aggression.  The  Boman,  the 
Greek,  the  Lombard,  the  German,  have  found  in 
their  turn  that  patienco  is  stronger  than  might,  and 
that  to  suffer  is  to  reign. 

But  my  purpose  is  not  to  enter  upon  this  wide 
field,  beautiful,  glorious,  and  most  alluring  as  it  is. 
We  have  a  special  subject  for  to-day — the  restoration 
of  the  Church  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  and  the 
motives  of  such  an  undertaking. 

To  set  this  before  you,  it  is  necessary  that  we 
should  appreciate  the  cause  and  the  martyrdom  of 
this  great  Saint,  and  see  what  claims  it  has  upon  us, 
at  all  times,  and  especially  at  this  day.  And  this  it 
is  necessary  to  do  all  the  more,  because  St.  Thomas 
has  been  one  of  those  great  champions  of  the  Church 
about  whom  men  have  never  ceased  to  contend.  His- 
torians of  the  world  have  conspired  against  him.  He 
was  too  great,  and  too  explicit  in  his  condemnation 
of  the  abuses  of  worldly  power,  to  escape  the  especial 
hostility  of  the  men  of  this  world.  Even  Catholic 
historians  have,  at  times,  written  of  him,  if  not  with 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OP  ST.  THOMAS.    125 

a  hesitation,  at  least  without  the  glow  of  enthusiastic 
devotion  which  is  his  due.  What  I  purpose,  there- 
fore, is  to  show  that  he  stood  and  suffered  for  the 
rights  and  the  liberties  of  justice ;  that  we  owe  him 
a  singular  veneration ;  and  that  there  are  especial 
motives  to  urge  us  to  manifest  our  devotion  to  him 
at  this  day. 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  nor  would  it  now  be  pos- 
sible, to  draw  out  the  history  of  St.  Thomas,  and  of 
his  contest  with  Henry  II.  of  England.  It  will  ba 
enough  to  remind  you,  in  very  few  words,  of  the  chief 
heads  of  the  history,  and  the  chief  causes  of  the  con- 
flict. 

St.  Thomas  had  been  seven  years  Lord  High 
Chancellor  of  England,  when  he  exchanged  that 
charge  for  the  office  of  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He 
thereby  exchanged  one  high  trust  for  another;  the 
one  he  had  held  of  the  King,  the  other  he  now  held 
from  his  divine  Master.  No  man  better  knew  than 
he  the  nature  of  both  these  trusts,  their  limits  and 
their  responsibilities.  No  man  better  knew  the  extent 
both  of  the  royal  and  civil  jurisdiction,  and  of  the  im- 
munities and  liberties  of  the  Church.  If  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  at  that  day  had  been  Theodore 
of  Tarsus,  or  Lanfranc  Abbot  of  Bee,  the  men  of  the 
world  then,  and  historians  and  controversialists  now, 


126    RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

would  tell  us  that  c.n  ecclesiastical  education  had 
narrowed  their  minds  and  warped  their  judgments; 
or  at  least,  that  if  they  were  Saints,  they  were  not 
jurists  or  lawyers,  and  were  incapable  of  discerning 
the  prerogatives  and  rights  of  the  royal  jurisdiction. 
None  of  these  things  can  he  said  of  St.  Thomas,  than 
whom  no  man  had  hetter  learned,  hy  the  practice  of 
seven  years,  to  know  the  rights  and  claims  of  the 
Crown  and  of  the  Church. 

When  the  guardianship  of  the  Church  in  England 
was  committed  to  his  trust,  he  received  it  with  all  its 
liberties,  of  which  I  will  recite  a  few,  and  those  which 
were  the  chief  objects  of  the  hostility  of  Henry  II. 

1.  First,  the  Church  in  England  held  its  posses- 
sions or  patrimony  freely  as  its  own.  The  Church,  as 
a  society  divinely  instituted,  holds  its  property  by  the 
most  perfect  right  of  dominion.  All  other  rights  are 
similar  but  secondary,  but  the  right  of  possession  in 
the  Church  is  inherently  a  divine  right,  and  is  the 
exemplar  of  all  other  rights.  The  Church  in  England 
at  that  time  was,  as  in  all  Christian  countries,  not 
only  a  moral  person  or  corporation  in  itself,  but  a 
legal  person  or  corporation  in  the  recognition  of  the 
public  law.  It  held  its  own  lands,  revenues,  houses, 
and  goods,  independently  of  all  human  authority. 
The  kings  of  the  Saxon  races  had  generously  and 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.    127 

abundantly  offered  of  their  possessions  to  the  Church 
of  God,  and  the  faithful  of  every  condition  had  fol- 
lowed their  example.  The  whole  of  England  was 
gradually  formed  into  dioceses  and  parishes,  every 
one  of  which  had  its  endowment,  which  endures  even 
to  this  day.  If  I  were  to  begin  by  examples,  I  should 
weaken  what  I  say,  unless  I  were  to  enumerate  all  the 
ecclesiastical  foundations  of  Saxon  England,  which 
is  impossible.  Canterbury,  Kochester,  Winchester, 
Salisbury,  York,  and  Lichfield,  with  "Westminster, 
Glastonbury,  St.  Alban's,  Bipon,  Whitby,  and  Croy- 
land,  are  representatives  of  a  whole  order  which 
covered  the  land.  These  foundations  were  sacred 
gifts  of  the  faithful,  held  for  God  by  His  Church ; 
they  were  consecrated  by  the  wills  of  the  departed, 
which  are  protected  by  a  peculiar  sanctity.  They 

* 

were  oblations  at  the  altar,  or  penitential  restitutions 
to  the  laws  of  God,  or  vows  solemnly  made  in  times 
of  danger  or  in  the  hour  of  death.  They  had  passed 
entirely  from  the  possession  of  the  givers  and  of  the 
world,  to  the  hand  which  received  them  for  the  service 
of  God.  As  such  they  were  exempted  from  the  ordi- 
nary burdens  which  fell  upon  the  possessions  of  the 
State;  but  they  were  charged  with  the  burdens  of 
the  ecclesiastical  order,  which  were  proportionate ; 
namely,  the  maintenance  of  the  Episcopate,  of  tho 


128        EESTOBATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  01?  ST.  THOMAS. 

clergy,  of  the  churches,  and  of  tlie  poor.  They 
were,  therefore,  described  as  '  Vota  fideliuin,  pretia 
peccatorum,  patrimonia  pauperum  ;'7 — vows,  restitu- 
tions, and  the  patrimony  of  the  poor ;  or,  as  in  the 
capitularies  of  Charlemagne,  as  '  offerings  upon  the 
altar,  penances  for  sin,  the  patrimony  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  poor.'  The  administration  of  these  posses- 
sions belonged  absolutely  to  the  ecclesiastical  order, 
and  the  immunity  or  exemption  of  these  ecclesi- 
astical possessions  was  recognised  and  recorded  in 
every  code  of  law  throughout  Christian  Europe,  and 
especially  in  England.  It  was  also  protected  by  the 
canons  of  many  councils  in  all  countries,  but  also 
especially  in  England,  where  the  councils  of  Becan- 
celd  and  Berghamsted  in  the  seventh  century,  and  the 
councils  of  London  and  Winchester  in  the  eleventh, 
ordered  that  all  who  violated  the  property  of  the 
Church  should  be  excommunicated. 

2.  A  second  immunity  of  the  Church  was  the  per- 
sonal exemption  of  ecclesiastics  from  all  jurisdiction, 
except  that  of  the  Church.  It  is  obvious  at  once, 
that  in  matters  of  the  spiritual  order,  not  only  all 
ecclesiastics,  but  all  men,  must  be  exempt  from  civil 
powers,  and  subject  to  the  Church  alone.  There  is 

7  De  Vita  Contcmpl.  lib.  ii.  c.  9,  ap.  Darboy,  Vie  de  S.  Tluma 
Becket,  vol.  i.  pp.  62,  66. 


BESTOBATIOX  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.   129 

no  other  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  but  His  Church ; 
there  is  no  other  divine  -witness  of  His  person  or 
revelation,  no  other  interpreter  of  His  faith,  no  other 
expositor  of  His  law,  no  other  legislator  in  the  spi- 
ritual order,  no  other  judge  of  His  people,  whether 
in  the  internal  forum  of  penance,  or  in  the  external 
forum  of  ecclesiastical  censure.  To  the  Bishops 
alone  all  men  alike  are  subject  in  matters  of  the 
soul.  But  as  soon  as  the  world  began  to  turn  to 
God,  the  Christians  avoided  the  tribunals  of  the  un- 
believers, and  submitted  their  causes  to  the  arbitra- 
tion of  their  own  brethren.  The  Emperors  invested 
the  Bishops  of  the  Church  with  a  judicial  authority 
even  in  civil  causes ;  what  was  at  first  a  paternal 
arbitration  became  a  true  and  recognised  jurisdic- 
tion. Gradually  it  was  extended  even  to  criminal 
causes;  and  finally  the  imperial  laws  ordained  that 
the  Bishops  should  have  jurisdiction  over  laymen  in 
matters  spiritual  and  civil,  but  over  ecclesiastics  in 
all  matters  whatsoever,  spiritual,  civil,  and  criminal 
— that  is,  that  the  clergy  should  be  exempt  from  all 
other  jurisdiction,  and  should  be  judged  only  by  their 
own  superiors  and  by  their  peers.  These  exemptions 
were  carried  by  the  imperial  laws  throughout  the 
extent  of  its  jurisdiction,  and  passed  into  the  legal 
tradition  of  Spain,  of  France,  of  Germany,  and  of 


130   RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OP  ST.  THOMAS. 

England.  The  Councils  of  Becanceld  and  of  Berg- 
hamsted,  already  quoted,  in  the  seventh  century,  de- 
clared these  exemptions  of  the  clergy  from  all  civil 
judges.  This  immunity  is  recognised  also  in  the 
laws  of  the  Saxon  and  Danish  kings,  Edgar,  Canute, 
Ethelred,  and  Alfred,  and  expressly  ordered  in  those 
of  St.  Edward  the  Confessor.  They  were  acknow- 
ledged and  confirmed  by  William  the  Conqueror,  by 
Henry  I.,  and,  what  is  to  our  purpose,  expressly  and 
solemnly  acknowledged  by  Henry  II. 

Now  it  is  not  necessary  to  show  the  Christian 
wisdom  and  the  Christian  justice  of  these  exemp- 
tions. It  would  be  no  hard  task  to  do  so ;  but  for 
our  present  purpose  it  is  enough  to  establish  that 
such  was  at  that  time  the  public  law  both  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  State  in  England,  confirmed  by 
custom,  canons,  statutes,  and  royal  oaths.  Such, 
then,  was  the  immunity  which  descended  to  the 
charge  and  trust  of  St.  Thomas.  Ho  was  not  the 
maker  of  these  liberties,  but  only  their  guardian, 
responsible  to  God  and  the  Church. 

3.  A  third  immunity  of  the  Church  is  the  free 
election  of  its  pastors.  The  Church  as  a  spiritual 
house  is  built  of  living  stones,  and  the  choice  of  those 
stones  is  vital  to  its  unity,  symmetry,  and  solidity. 
The  guardianship  of  the  truth  and  law  of  Jesus  Christ 


KESTOBATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.   131 

requires  from  those  who  are  intrusted  with  it  a  per- 
fect unity  of  intelligence  and  will  in  all  that  relates 
to  the  divine  deposit  and  mission  of  the  Church. 
'Labia  enini  sacerdotis  custodient  scientiam.'8  St. 
Irenoeus  says  that  the  Episcopate  possesses  a  special 
'  unction  of  truth.'  The  transmission  of  truth  in  the 
world  is  not  by  books,  but  by  men ;  not  by  parch- 
ments and  rolls,  but  by  living  intelligences  and  wills 
formed  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  "Written  records  and 
formularies  of  faith  are  of  little  avail  when  the  living 
teachers  are  in  error,  or  contradict  each  other.  For 
this  reason  the  Church  has  been  so  vigilant  and  so 
exact  in  constituting  and  preserving  the  gradation  of 
its  orders,  the  choice,  probation,  and  formation  of  its 
clergy.  And  this  care  is  all  the  more  rigorous  and 
searching  in  proportion  as  its  ministers  ascend  nearer 
to  the  altar,  and  to  the  twofold  jurisdiction  over  the 
real  and  the  mystical  Body  of  Jesus  Christ.  By  seven 
slow  and  deliberate  steps  His  priests  ascend  the  altar. 
The  words,  the  will,  and  the  example  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  are  the  laws  of  the  Church  in  the  choice 
of  its  pastors.  It  will  suffer  no  power  on  earth  but 
its  own  to  create,  or  to  constitute  its  ministers ;  no 
hand  but  its  own  to  form  and  to  ordain  them ;  no 
discernment  but  its  own  to  try  and  to  judge  of  their 

•  Mai.  ii.  7. 


132   RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

fitness  and  of  their  vocation  from  God  to  bear  the 
pastoral  charge.  What  is  its  right  and  its  duty  in 
the  choice  of  all  its  ministers,  even  of  the  lowest, 
is  far  more  absolutely  and  supremely  binding  in  the 
choice  of  its  highest,  that  is,  in  the  election  of  Bishops. 
And  it  was  precisely  in  this  point  that  the  Church 
had  been  compelled  to  exercise  its  greatest  vigilance 
and  fortitude.  Inasmuch  as  the  Episcopate  is  the 
highest  order,  invested  with  the  greatest  privileges, 
endowed  with  the  largest  possessions,  and  in  closest 
contact  with  the  civil  powers,  it  was  there  that  the 
influence  of  the  world  first  began  to  insinuate  itself; 
and  it  was  there  also  that  the  Church  had  'always, 
with  the  most  inflexible  severity  of  principle,  guarded 
the  liberty  of  its  elections.  The  later  Saxon  kings 
and  the  earlier  Norman  had  both  invaded  this  essen- 
tial right  of  the  Church.  The  contest  about  inves- 
titure, which  had  agitated  the  whole  Church  in  the 
time  of  St.  Gregory,  extended  over  two  centuries  in 
duration.  In  England  it  had  been  vigorously  and 
successfully  maintained  by  St.  Anselm.  In  order  to 
show  in  the  fewest  words  the  fidelity  and  inflexibility 
with  which  the  Church  had  watched  over  this  divine 
liberty  of  its  constitution-,  I  need  hardly  say  that  in 
the  creation  of  its  Bishops  there  are  three  actions : 
the  election,  by  which  the  person  is  freely  chosen ; 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OP  ST.  THOMAS.    133 

the  institution,  by  which  the  person  chosen  is  in- 
vested with  his  jurisdiction ;  and  the  investiture  with 
the  emblems  of  that  jurisdiction,  the  pastoral  staff 
and  ring.  When  the  emperors  and  princes  attempted 
to  reserve  this  last  action  to  themselves,  on  the  plea 
that  the  Bishop  by  entering  upon  his  temporal  pos- 
sessions entered  also  into  a  new  and  important  posi- 
tion in  the  civil  order,  the  Church  endured  two  cen- 
turies of  suffering,  with  every  form  of  warfare  and 
affliction,  rather  than  consent  to  imply  by  the  lightest 
shadow  of  appearance,  that  the  choice  and  commission 
of  its  pastors  is  derived  from  any  fountain  of  right  or 
jurisdiction  but  its  own.  The  Councils  of  the  Church, 
and  especially  those  of  Bari  and  of  Borne,  at  which 
St.  Anselm  was  present,  inflicted  excommunication 
upon  all,  both  giver  and  receiver,  who  should  violate 
the  immunity  oi  investitures.  Such,  again,  was  the 
trust  which  devolved  to  the  custody  of  St.  Thomas. 

4.  Once  more — for  I  will  only  briefly  mention  two 
other  points — not  only  the  divine  law,  but  the  light 
of  reason  is  enough  to  show  that  it  is  essential  to 
the  Church  to  possess  inviolate  the  liberty  and  the 
power  of  declaring  judicially  who  do  or  do  not  belong^ 
to  its  unity  and  its  communion.  Else  how  could  it 
exist  ?  A  body  which  cannot  cut  off  those  who  viti- 
ato  its  purity  is  in  anarchy  and  dissolution.  With- 


134        HESTOBATION  03?  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

out  the  power  of  excommunication  in  its  fullest  free- 
dom of  exercise,  how  shall  these  words  be  verified : 
'Whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  upon  earth,  it  shall  be 
bound  also  in  heaven ;  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on 
earth,  it  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven'  ?9  In  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  power  of  the  keys  the  Church  owes  an 
account  only  to  its  divine  Head.  To  recognise  any 
other  will  or  law  in  its  jurisdiction  over  souls  would 
be  a  betrayal  of  its  divine  Master.  From  this  juris- 
diction none  is  exempted.  Persons,  races,  nations, 
princes,  with  all  who  surround  them  or  serve  them, 
all  alike  are  subject  to  the  judgment  and  scntenco 
of  the  Church. 

5.  And  lastly,  the  liberty  of  every  member  of  the 
Church  to  cast  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  Vicar  of 
Jesus  Christ,  is  inalienably  in  every  soul  born  again 
by  water  and  the  Spirit.  It  may  cosi  him  his  life, 
but  he  would  be  a  martyr  for  the  liberty  of  the  sons 
of  God.  And  if  the  humblest  of  the  children  of  God 
has  the  inherent  right  to  forsake  father  and  mother, 
houses  and  lands,  for  Christ's  sake,  and  to  seek  the 
presence  of  him  who  represents  the  Person  and  the 
authority  of  the  Son  of  God  on  earth,  especially  if 
he  suffer  any  wrong  or  affliction,  much  more  those 
who  bear  the  ministry  of  the  Church,  and  are  bound 
•  St.  Matthew  xvi.  19. 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.    185 

by  a  special  bond  of  dependence  and  responsibility 
to  their  spiritual  Head.  If  the  flock  may  freely  seek 
the  chief  Pastor  upon  earth,  how  much  more  the 
shepherds.  If  the  laity  possess  an  indefeasible  per- 
sonal right  to  come  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
to  kneel  at  the  feet  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  how 
much  more  the  priests  of  the  Church,  most  of  all 
the  Bishops.  And  yet  what  is  this  but  the  liberty 
of  appeal  to  Rome  ? — a  right  instituted  by  the  divine 
Founder  of  the  Church,  ordered  by  councils,  and  in- 
corporated in  the  public  law  of  Christendom.  The 
whole  Church,  in  all  its  members  and  in  all  its 
pastors,  possesses  universally  this  right.  The  free 
relations  between  all  its  parts  with  the  centre  can 
never  be  crossed  or  impeded  without  a  violation  of 
its  divine  constitution ;  and  to  judge  of  the  necessity 
of  such  appeals  musb  also  belong  to  the  Church, 
which  alone  can  declare,  or  discern,  when  any  of 
its  own  laws,  principles,  or  responsibilities,  enter 
as  an  element  in  the  subjects  of  contention.  It 
is  an  inherent  prerogative  of  its  judicial  power, 
which  cannot  be  surrendered  :  nor  can  it  depend  upon 
any  will  but  that  of  God  and  of  His  Church.  To 
yield  this  would  be  to  abdicate  its  divine  office  .as 
the  expositor  of  the  truth  and  law  of  Jesus  Christ, 
in  its  contact  with  the  world,  and  in  its  application 


136        RESTORATION  OF  T  HE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

to  the  actions  of  men.  Above  all,  this  must  be  self- 
evident,  when  the  matter  in  dispute  is  the  exercise 
of  the  pastoral  office  of  its  Bishops.  Their  conduct 
can  be  judged  only  by  their  brethren  in  the  Episco- 
pate, and  by  the  supreme  Pastor  upon  earth. 

Now  these  five  liberties  or  immunities  of  the 
Church  of  God — the  liberty  of  its  patrimony,  of  its 
personal  exemption,  of  its  episcopal  elections,  of  its 
powers  of  excommunication,  and  of  its  appeals  to 
Rome — had  been  for  centuries  recognised  and  freely 
and  fully  exercised  in  England.  From  time  to  time 
the  Church  had  suffered  from  the  violence  and  usur- 
pation of  princes,  of  whom  some  were  not  Christian 
even  in  name  :  but  its  rights  were  incorporated  in 
the  whole  order  of  Saxon  England,  and  had  been  re- 
cognised by  the  most  usurping  of  its  Norman  kings. 
And  such  was  the  liberty  which  the  divine  Head  of 
the  Church  intrusted  with  the  pastoral  staff  and  ring 
to  the  hands  of  St.  Thomas,  to  be  kept  without  spot, 
inviolate,  unto  the  day  of  His  appearing. 

It  would  be  a  long  and  intricate  task  to  enume- 
rate the  acts  of  usurpation  by  which  the  king  of 
England  violated  these  liberties  of  the  Church.  It 
might  seem  also  that  I  were  speaking  under  the 
bias  of  indignation,  and  that  I  gave  a  colour  and 
exaggeration  to  the  facts.  Happily  we  are  spared 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.   137 

the  task  of  seeking  out  our  evidence.  We  have  it 
full  and  concise  in  a  document  framed  by  the  king 
and  his  advisers.  No  more  is  needed  to  convict  him 
of  a  systematic  violation  of  the  laws  of  England,  as 
well  as  of  the  immunities  of  the  Church.  The  docu- 
ment of  which  I  speak  is  the  formula  known  as  the 
Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  that  is,  the  claims  of  the 
king  as  proposed  to  the  Bishops,  in  the  council  held 
at  Clarendon,  to  be  accepted  of  them  as  laws.  They 
are  sixteen  in  number.  I  will  recite  only  those 
against  which  St.  Thomas  protested ;  they  are  -six, 
and  run  as  follows : 

The  first,  that  all  questions  respecting  the  patron- 
age and  presentation  to  churches  should  be  decided 
before  the  king's  courts. 

The  third,  that  the  clergy  should  be  subject  to 
the  king's  courts. 

The  fourth,  that  no  archbishop,  bishop,  or  dig- 
nitary, should  leave  the  kingdom,  that  is,  go  to  the 
sovereign  Pontiff,  without  the  king's  leave. 

The  seventh,  that  no  tenant  or  officer  of  the  king 
should  be  excommunicated  without  notice  first  given 
to  the  king,  or  in  his  absence  to  his  officers,  that  is, 
to  obtain  the  king's  leave. 

The  eighth,  that  all  appeals  should  lie  to  the  king, 
and  not  bo  carried  to  Borne  without  the  king's  leave. 


188        RESTORATION  OF  THE  C.HURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

The  twelfth,  that  during  the  vacancy  of  arch- 
bishoprics, bishoprics,  abbeys,  and  priories,  all  the 
revenues  should  fall  to  the  king;  'and,'  as  the  words 
run,  '  when  it  shall  be  necessary  to  provide  for  a 
vacant  church,  the  king  will  call  to  him  certain  prin- 
cipal persons,  and  the  election  shall  take  place  in 
his  chapel,  by  his  consent,  and  by  the  counsel  of  the 
persons  whom  he  shall  have  commissioned ;  and  the 
person  elected  shall  there,  before  he  is  consecrated, 
do  homage  to  the  king,  and  promise  to  put  at  his 
service  his  life,  limbs,  and  temporal  dignity,  saving 
his  order.' 

This  last  claim  would  have  three  effects  :  the 
first,  that  the  king  should  have  an  indefinite  enjoy- 
ment of  the  revenues  of  vacant  sees.  William  Rufus 
held  at  one  time  two  archbishoprics,  four  bishoprics, 
and  eleven '  abbeys.  The  second,  that  he  should 
have  an  indefinite  power  of  prolonging  the  vacancies. 
The  same  king  prolonged  the  vacancy  of  Canterbury, 
after  the  death  of  St.  Anselm,  for  five  years.  The 
third,  that  the  whole  liberty  of  election,  consecra- 
tion, and  investiture,  should  be  subjected  to  the  will 
of  the  king. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  make  a  word  of 
comment.  It  is  evident,  under  the  king's  own  hand, 
that  he  claimed  a  right  to  violate  all  the  immunities 


RESTORATION  OP  THE  CHURCH  OP  ST.  THOMAS.    189 

of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  to  make  the  Crown  su- 
preme as  the  ultimate  judge  in  all  questions  affecting 
the  possessions,  privileges,  offices,  and  jurisdiction 
of  the  Church.  No  man  better  knew  the  falsehood 
of  these  pretensions,  or  the  injustice  of  these  usur- 
pations, than  the  man  who,  as  I  have  said,  had  only 
ceased  to  be  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England  to 
become  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  It  was  evident, 
therefore,  that  concession  or  compromise  there  could 
be  none. 

We  can  only  glance  over  the  chief  passages  in 
this  great  contest.  But  they  will  show  how  great  and 
how  glorious  St.  Thomas  was,  not  only  in  courage 
and  in  martyrdom,  but  in  the  spirit  of  peace  and  re- 
conciliation. 

Not  many  months  had  passed  since  he  entered 
upon  the  see  of  Canterbury,  when  the  encroachments 
of  the  courtiers  and  officers  of  the  king  compelled 
him  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  the  Church. 

The  king,  being  incensed,  summoned  the  Bishops 
to  a  council  at  "Westminster ;  and  demanded,  first, 
that  all  ecclesiastics  should  be  tried  by  the  juris- 
diction of  the  royal  courts,  and  next,  that  the  '  royal 
customs'  should  be  observed.  These  '  customs'  were, 
in  fact,  the,  abuses  and  violations  of  the  ecclesiastical 
liberties,  which,  from  time  to  time,  his  predecessors 


140   EESTOEATION  OP  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

had  endeavoured  to  establish.  St.  Thomas  stood 
firm ;  but  all  his  suffragans  forsook  him,  saying,  '  Let 
the  liberty  of  the  Church  perish,  lest  we  perish  our- 
selves.' Nevertheless,  they  all,  by  the  Archbishop's 
direction,  with  one  only  exception,  promised  to  ob- 
serve the  customs,  '  saving  their  order.'  This  clause 
so  enraged  the  king,  that  after  many  threats  he  left 
London.  This  was  the  first  open  collision. 

The  Bishops  then  forsook  St.  Thomas.  He  stood 
alone  in  perfect  isolation,  with  the  certainty  of  a  new 
and  more  formidable  conflict  near  at  hand,  without 
help,  except  in  God  and  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Day  by  day  he  was  besieged  by  persons  of  all  kinds, 
beseeching  him  to  yield.  Finally  came  a  Cistercian 
Abbot,  bearing,  as  he  asserted,  the  recommendation 
of  Pope  Alexander  that  the  Archbishop  should  yield 
for  the  sake  of  peace.  The  Archbishop  had  been  re- 
presented to  the  Pontiff  as  unbending,  and  the  causes 
in  contest  had  never  been  truly  laid  before  him. 

After  a  while,  the  king,  in  anger,  proceeded 
to  a  farther  aggression.  On  the  29th  of  January 
1164,  that  is,  this  very  day  seven  hundred  years 
ago,  the  Council  of  Clarendon  assembled.  Signs  of 
violence  were  openly  shown,  armed  men  filled  the 
council-chamber,  and  a  panic  fell  on  all  except  St. 
Thomas.  The  Bishops  of  Salisbury  and  Worcester 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.    141 

implored  hiin  with  tears  to  yield.  The  Earls  of 
Leicester  and  of  Cornwall  came,  declaring  that  the 
king  was  ready  to  proceed  to  extremities.  St.  Tho- 
mas answered,  '  It  would  not  be  a  new  thing  to  die 
for  the  Church.'  Then  came  two  Knights  of  the 
Temple,  one  the  Grand  Master  of  the  English  Tem- 
plars, who  solemnly  pledged  themselves  that  the 
king  would  not  injure  the  Church,  and  that  nothing 
more  should  be  heard  of  the  Constitutions,  if  only 
they  were  suffered  to  pass.  Moved  at  last  by  all 
these  entreaties  and  promises,  the  Archbishop  con- 
sulted the  Bishops,  and  with  them  went  to  the  king, 
and  promised  to  observe  the  '  customs,'  trusting  in 
the  king's  prudence  and  moderation.  As  yet  the 
Constitutions  were  not  put  in  writing.  They  were 
therefore  prepared,  and  proposed  to  the  council,  by 
St.  Thomas's  request,  the  following  day.  Next  day 
they  were  read  aloud.  The  Archbishop  objected,  as  I 
have  said,  to  six  of  them.  The  king  then  demanded 
that  he  and  the  Bishops  should  affix  their  seals  to 
these  Constitutions,  as  the  authoritative  interpreta- 
tion of  the  customs  they  had  promised  to  observe. 
On  this,  St.  Thomas  promptly  answered,  'By  the 
Lord  Almighty,  during  my  life-time,  seal  of  mine 
shall  never  touch  them.'  Leaving  the  council,  he 
rode  alone,  followed  by  his  attendants,  towards  Win- 


142        EESTOKATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

Chester.  While  he  rode  in  silence,  they  spoke  freely 
of  what  had  passed.  His  cross-bearer  was  heard  to 
say,  *  During  the  shepherd's  folly,  the  wolf  has  scat- 
tered the  sheep.'  St.  Thomas  asked,  '  To  whom  does 
this  apply  ?'  He  answered,  '  It  applies  to  you,  who 
have  to-day  betrayed  your  conscience  and  your  fame 
to  the  overthrow  of  the  liberty  of  the  Church.'  The 
Archbishop,  with  great  anguish  of  mind,  acknow- 
ledged his  weakness  in  having  so  much  as  promised 
to  obey  the  '  customs,'  not  knowing  what  so  vague  a 
term  might  be  interpreted  to  mean.  He  said,  'By 
my  sins  I  have  brought  the  Church  of  England  to 
slavery.'  At  once  he  sent  to  the  Pope,  who  was  then 
at  Sens,  for  absolution  of  this  great  fault,  and  for 
forty  days  abstained  from  offering  the  holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Altar. 

After  fruitless  negotiations,  the  king  summoned 
a  council  at  Northampton.  The  Archbishop  was 
cited,  not  by  the  king, .but  as  a  culprit,  by  the 
sheriff  of  Kent.  The  king  then  demanded  of  the 
Archbishop  the  enormous  sum  of  30,000  marks  of 
silver,  on  various  unreasonable  accounts.  Rumours 
were  current  that  violence  would  be  offered  to  him. 
All  his  soldiers  and  men-at-arms  deserted.  The 
Bishops  all  were  against  him.  He  appealed  to  the 
Holy  See.  Long  scenes  of  tumult  followed ;  Bishops 


BESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.    143 

and  barons  came  about  him,  praying  him  to  save 
them  by  yielding,  or  to  save  himself  by  flight :  then 
threatening  him  with  spiritual  or  •with  civil  censures. 
After  long  and  fruitless  conflict,  St.  Thomas  de- 
parted, declining  the  judgment  of  the  king,  and 
placing  himself  and  his  Church  under  the  protection 
of  the  Pope,  and  summoning  the  Bishops  who  had 
forsaken  him  to  the  presence  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ.  'And  so,'  he  said,  *  guarded  by  the  authority 
of  the  Catholic  Church  and  of  the  Holy  See,  I  go 
hence.' 

He  then  left  England  for  Sens,  where  the  Pope 
was  at  that  time.  The  Pope  condemned  eight  of  the 
Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  including  the  six  already 
objected  to  by  the  Archbishop,  and  the  Archbishop 
excommunicated  any  one  who  should  act  on  their 
authority.  It  was  at  this  time,  in  the  church  of 
Pontigny,  that  St.  Thomas  received  a  foreknowledge 
of  what  was  to  befall  him.  One  day,  in  his  thanks- 
giving after  Mass,  before  the  altar  of  St.  Stephen,  he 
heard  a  voice  saying,  '  Thomas  !  Thomas  !'  He  ans- 
wered, '  Who  art  Thou,  Lord  ?'  And  our  Lord  said 
to  him,  '  I  am  Jesus  Christ,  thy  Lord,  and  thy  bro- 
ther :  My  Church  shall  be  glorified  in  thy  blood,  and 
thou  shalt  be  glorified  in  Me.'  The  Abbot  of  the 
house,  standing  by  one  of  the  columns  of  the  church, 


144   RESTORATION  OP  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

heard  all  that  passed ;  but  St.  Thomas  bound  him  to 
silence.  He  also,  about  this  time,  had  a  vision  or  a 
dream,  in  which  he  saw  himself  in  some  church  de- 
fending his  cause  before  the  Pope,  when  four  armed 
men  rushed  in,  and  with  swords  smote  him  on  the 
head. 

And  thus  for  six  long  years,  with  the  certainty  of 
martyrdom  full  before  him,  he  maintained  the  con- 
test calmly  and  inflexibly.  I  pass  over  the  violence 
and  threats,  and  all  the  crafty  and  false  attempts 
by  which  his  enemies  endeavoured  to  entangle  or  to 
move  him.  At  length,  a  hollow  reconciliation  was 
made  by  the  king,  who  would  not,  however,  so  much 
as  give  him  the  Idss  of  peace.  Nevertheless,  the 
Archbishop  resolved  to  return  to  England.  All  who 
were  about  him  warned  him  of  his  danger.  At  the  mo- 
ment of  embarking  at  Boulogne,  when  England  was 
in  sight,  the  Dean  of  Boulogne  strove  to  keep  him 
back.  He  answered,  '  I  see  the  land,  and  by  God's 
help  I  will  enter  it,  though  I  know  for  certain  that 
death  awaits  me.'  But  I  need  say  no  more  to 
Catholics,  above  all  to  Englishmen,  to  whom  the 
name  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  is  a  household 
word  of  love  and  of  strength,  and  in  whose  memory 
the  vision  of  the  martyr,  in  his  pontifical  vestments, 
at  vesper-time,  in  the  north  transept  of  Canterbury, 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.         145 

is  fresh  and  vivid  among  the  chief  glories  of  our  his- 
tory. He  stood  there  with  his  head  bowed  and  his 
hands  covering  his  eyes.  At  the  first  blow  which 
struck  him,  he  said,  'Into  Thy  hands,  0  Lord,  I 
commend  my  spirit ;'  and  as  he  wiped  the  blood  from 
his  head,  the  second  blow  brought  him  to  his  knees. 
He  knelt  with  his  hands  still  closed,  as  in  prayer, 
then  sunk  upon  the  ground,  lying  northward,  toward 
the  altar  of  St.  Benedict.  The  last  words  he  breathed 
were  overheard  by  his  cross-bearer,  already  wounded 
for  his  sake.  They  were  :  '  For  the  love  of  Jesus, 
and  for  the  defence  of  the  Church,  I  am  ready  to 
die.'  Another  stroke  smote  off  the  crown  of  the 
head,  which  had  been  anointed  in  his  consecration. 
And  here  I  may  cease ;  for  it  is  not  my  office  to  re- 
cite a  history,  but  to  remind  you  of  what  we  owe  to 
the  great  martyr  of  the  Church  of  England.  He  died 
for  the  rights  of  God,  for  the  canons  of  the  Church, 
for  the  law  of  England,  for  justice,  and  for  duty,  for 
the  flock  of  Christ,  and  for  the  spiritual  inheritance 
of  the  English  people. 

First,  I  may  say,  that  St.  Thomas,  by  his  blood, 
vindicated  the  rights  of  all  nations,  and  the  liber- 
ties of  the  universal  Church.  Roger  of  Croyland 
said  of  him :  .'  Since  the  age  of  the  Apostles,  there 
is  no  man  whoso  death  has  given  to  the  Church 


146        EESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  0?  ST.  THOMAS. 

a  greater  or  more  salutary  victory;  for  though  he 
seemed  to  be  contending  for  the  Churches  in  Eng- 
land, it  was  really  the  cause  of  the  Church  through- 
out the  world  for  which  he  was  in  contest,  as  the 
events  have  proved.'10  The  seal  which  St.  Thomas 
refused  to. affix  to  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  he 
set,  in  his  martyrdom,  to  the  liberties  of  the  universal 
Church.  In  England  the  tide  turned  at  once;  the 
oppressors  of  the  Church  made  their  peace  with  it. 
The  murderers  of  the  martyr  made  reparation  in  a 
life  of  penance  and  expiation.  The  king  walked  bare- 
foot to  his  shrine,  and  received  the  penitential  dis- 
cipline, kneeling  before  his  tomb.  The  liberties  for 
which  St.  Thomas  died  were  consecrated  with  a  new 
sanction,  and  established  with  a  firmness  which  en- 
dured for  more  than  a  generation  without  a  contest. 
The  impulse  was  felt  throughout  Christendom,  and 
a  vibration  spread  through  all  the  Catholic  unity. 
It  may  be  said  that  the  fruits  of  his  martyrdom  en- 
dure to  this  day.  The  Church  throughout  the  world 
at  this  hour  possesses  its  liberties,  often  purchased 
by  the  loss  of  all  things,  but  still  inviolably  pre- 
served ;  in  the  independence  of  its  august  Head,  in 
the  free  choice  of  its  pastors,  in  the  liberty  and  there- 
fore purity  of  its  doctrine,  in  its  supremacy  of  spi- 
10  Roger  Croyland,  Vita  S.  Tlwrnce.  Darfcoy,  vol.  i.  249. 


RESTORATION  OP  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.    147 

ritual  jurisdiction,  and  in  its  power  of  excommunica- 
tion. The  world  has  more  and  more  estranged  itself 
from  the  Church ;  kings,  legislatures,  and  nations  hare 
ceased  to  obey  it,  and  have  destroyed  much  of  the 
Christian  civilisation  of  Europe.  But  the  liberties 
of  the  Church  live  on  inviolate.  The  violence  of  re- 
volutions has  laid  bare  and  made  all  the  more  visible 
the  divine  laws  of  its  constitution,  as  inundations 
which  sweep  the  shifting  soil  from  the  strata  of  im- 
perishable rock  which  lie  beneath.  The  cause  of  St. 
Thomas  triumphed  throughout  the  world;  but  the 
cause  of  Henry  II.  has  triumphed  since  in  England. 
And  yet,  even  in  England,  the  Church  for  which  St. 
Thomas  died  survives  in  the  fulness  of  the  liberty 
with  which  Christ  has  made  it  free.  All  the  imperial 
power  of  our  princes,  and  all  the  cruelty  of  three 
hundred  years  of  penal  laws,  have  failed  to  extin- 
guish or  to  enslave  the  -Church  in  England.  But 
where  now  is  the  cause  of  Henry  II.  ?  After  a  while 
it  revived  again,  grew  strong,  and  prospered.  For 
four  hundred  years  the  royal  customs  steadily  en- 
croached upon  the  Church,  as  the  sea  upon  the  shore. 
The  two  jurisdictions  contended,  till  the  spiritual 
sunk  under  the  tyranny  of  the  so-called  Eeformation. 
Henry  II.  conquered  at  last,  and  his  victory  was  in- 
augurated with  a  solemnity  worthy  of  his  cause.  It 


148 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 


was  a  royal  judgment,  to  which  even  the  Councils  of 
Clarendon  and  Northampton  afford  no  parallel.  St. 
Thomas,  the  Martyr  of  Canterbury,  after  four  hun- 
dred years  of  honour  upon  the  altars  of  Christendom, 
and  of  glory  before  the  throne  of  God,  was  cited  by 
the  authority  of  the  king  of  England  to  answer  for 
high  treason.  The  attorney-general  filed  a  quo  war- 
ranto  information  against  him  '  for  usurping  the  office 
of  a  saint ;'  and  inasmuch  as  saints  are  poor,  counsel 
was  assigned  to  him  at  the  public  expense.  This 
high  judicial  process  issued  in  a  sentence,  that  '  Tho- 
mas, sometime  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  had  been 
guilty  of  contumacy,  treason,  and  rebellion ;  that  his 
bones  should  be  publicly  burnt,  to  admonish  the  liv- 
ing of  their  duty  by  the  punishment  of  the  dead;' 
and,  what  was  more  to  the  purpose — for  they  were  of 
inestimable  wealth,  a  faint  expression  of  the  love  and 
veneration  of  the  Christian  world — 'that  the  offerings 
made  at  his  shrine  should  be  forfeited  to  the  Crown.' 
It  was  ordered  farther,  '  that  he  should  no  longer  bo 
called  or  esteemed  a  saint.'  Whether  on  earth  only, 
or  in  heaven  also,  the  process  does  not  declare.  '  That 
all  images  and  pictures  of  him  should  be  destroyed, 
the  festivals  in  his  honour  be  abolished,  and  his  name 
and  remembrance  erased  out  of  all  books,  under  pain 
of  his  majesty's  indignation,  and  imprisonment  at  his 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.   149 

grace  and  pleasure ;'  for  it  was  truly  judged,  that  so 
long  as  St.  Thomas  the  Martyr  was  honoured  upon 
the  altars,  the  liberties  for  which  he  died,  and  the 
principles  which  were  written  in  his  blood,  could 
never  be  extinguished.  And  of  this  truth  we  have 
a  twofold  proof  before  us.  One  is  the  liberty  of  the 
Church,  which  at  this  hour,  after  seven  centuries — 
four  of  contest  and  three  of  persecution — lives  on 
indestructible  in  its  freedom,  and  invokes  him  as 
the  patron  of  the  secular  clergy  of  England.  The 
other,  the  bondage,  slavery,  and  dissolution  of  all  that 
calls  itself  a  Christian  Church,  under  the  supremacy 
of  the  English  Crown.  This  is  not  the  time  or  place 
to  reckon  up  the  moral  and  spiritual  evils'  which  have 
sprung  from  the  betrayal  of  the  liberties  for  which 
St.  Thomas  died.  I  can  but  enumerate  a  few :  first, 
the  development  of  national  egotism,  which  in  Eng- 
land has  reached  its  climax  of  isolation  and  of  pride. 
The  office  of  the  Church  is  to  harmonise  all  nations 
in  one  family,  to  subdue  the  excesses  of  national  an- 
tagonism in  the  unity  of  the  one  Fold.  Nationalism, 
in  its  modern  sense,  is  the  source  both  of  schism 
and  of  heresy;  and  Churches,  in  proportion  to  the 
development  of  their  nationalism,  fall  into  bondage  to 
the  civil  powers.  What  are  Gallicanism,  Josephism, 
Leopoldism,  Anglicanism,  but  so  many  forms  of  the 


150   RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OP  ST.  THOMAS. 

national  spirit  in  its  encroachment  on  the  liberty  of 
the  Church  ?  In  no  country  is  this  yoke,  so  heavy 
as  in  England ;  for  in  none  has  the  national  spirit 
been  more  anti-Catholic,  more  oppressive,  or  more 
schismatical. 

Again,  the  violation  of  the  immunities  of  the 
patrimony  of  the  Church  led  at  once  to  the  sacrilege 
and  spoliation  of  the  sixteenth  century.  And  this 
robbery  of  the  inheritance  of  the  poor  has  produced, 
by  a  direct  cause,  the  spiritual  destitution  of  Eng- 
land. Nearly  one-half  of  its  people,  we  are  told,  to 
use  the  language  of  its  own  statistical  books,  '  enter 
no  place  of  worship ;'  that  is,  are  without  pastors, 
and  have  no  religion. 

Again,  the  violation  of  the  liberties  of  the  Church 
has  led  to  a  violation  of  its  doctrine  and  discipline. 
And  this  has  generated  the  spiritual  anarchy,  which 
has  no  example  in  history,  and  no  parallel,  except  in 
America,  which  is  the  offspring  of  England. 

Again,  the  very  basis  of  Christian  society,  which 
endured  till  the  other  day,  has  at  length  given  way. 
The  indissolubility  of  Christian  matrimony  exists  no 
more  in  England.  Divorce,  borrowed  partly  from 
Judaism,  and  partly  from  the  schismatics  of  the 
East,  is  established  by  the  civil  and  so-called  eccle- 
iastical  law  of  the  English  people. 


RESTOEATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.        151 

Finally,  the  supremacy  of  the  material  over  the 
moral  order  of  the  world  has  arisen  from  the  viola- 
tion of  the  liberties  of  the  Church  of  God.  There 
was  a  time  when  some  of  the  greatest  monarchies 
had  hardly  a  standing  army;  when  the  voice  of  the 
Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  sufficed  to  arbitrate  in  their 
contentions.  But  now,  more  than  four  millions  of 
men  are  perpetually  under  arms,  gazing  in  defiance 
and  in  fear  on  each  other's  motions,  waiting  to  ward 
or  to  strike  the  first  blow.  The  world  is  drifting  to  a 
collision,  of  which  all  former  strife  is  but  a  faint  sha- 
dow. And  wonderful  and  beautiful  it  was,  the  other 
day,  to  see  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  in  St. 
Peter  the  whole  world  was  put  in  charge,  stretch  out 
his  hands  of  peace  and  benediction  between  the  great 
armies  which  rend  America  asunder,  and  with  the 
voice  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  call  them  to  reconcilia- 
tion. None  but  he  has  been  listened  to;  for  none 
but  he  had  the  authority  to  come  between  the -wea- 
pons of  their  conflict.  Such  was  once  the  fountain 
of  justice  and  of  peace  to  the  nations  of  Christendom; 
and  may  be  so  once  more.  But  not  until  the  violence 
of  the  material  order  has  learned  to  submit  to  the  su- 
premacy of  the  moral  order  established  by  God  upon 
the  earth.  All  these  moral  and  spiritual  miseries  de- 
Bcend  from  one  source — the  usurpations  of  the  world 


152    RESTORATION  OP  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

over  the  Church  of  God ;  they  are  the  scourges  and 
the  penalties  of  its  rebellion  against  the  kingdom  of 
unity  and  justice.  The  stone  on  -which  King  Henry 
knelt  when  he  was  ah  solved  of  his  sin  is  still  shown 
at  Avranches.  It  is  the  threshold  of  the  ancient 
Cathedral,  of  which  not  another  stone  was  left  by  the 
great  revolution.  But  England  has  repeated  his  re- 
bellion, and  has  not  repented.  The  discipline  which 
King  Henry  bore  at  Becket's  tomb  is  a  token  of  the 
chastisements  which  have  fallen  upon  England.  Shall 
they  never  cease  ?  Will  England  never  turn  to  God 
and  do  penance  for  its  pride  ?  When  shall  its  great 
chastisements  have  an  end — its  vast  and  sudden  pro- 
sperity, and  its  deep  and  spreading  spiritual  famine  ? 
How  long  shall  generation  after  generation  take  up 
the  tradition  of  disobedience  ?  Shall  we  never  out- 
grow the  miseries  of  the  past  ?  I  have  a  better  hope, 
and  seem  to  see  afar  off  the  first  lights  of  a  happier 
day  stealing  up  the  sky,  when  England  shall  be  once 
more  united  to  the  kingdom"  of  Jesus,  as  brethren  of 
one  Father,  and  disciples  of  one  Lord.  We  shall  once 
more  give  to  each  other  the  kiss  of  peace  before  the 
altar  in  presence  of  the  Incarnate  Word. 

There  is  much  more  that  should  be  said,  but  this 
must  suffice.  St.  Thomas  vindicated  the  spiritual 
liberties  of  all  nations,  and  all  nations  therefore  owe 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.        153 

to  him  a  reparation.  It  is  a  duty  of  all  Catholics, 
at  all  times,  to  honour  the  Martyr  of  their  liberties ; 
but  above  all  in  the  days  in  which  we  live ;  for  the 
contest  which  never  ceases  has  been  renewed  with  a 
greater  intensity  around  the  sanctuary  of  the  freedom 
of  the  Church.  The  conflict  of  the  last  fifteen  years 
has  been  maintained  for  the  highest  and  most  vital 
form  of  the  immunities  for  which  St.  Thomas  suf- 
fered. He  stood  for  the  temporal  and  spiritual  free- 
dom of  the  Church  in  England :  but  the  temporal 
dominion  of  the  Holy  See  is  the  source  of  those  liber- 
ties throughout  the  world.  The  storm  which  swept 
over  England  has  turned  upon  its  axis,  and  now 
sweeps  over  Italy.  And  nobly  have  the  brethren  of 
St.  Thomas  followed  in  his  steps.  Princes  of  the 
Church,  Archbishops,  Bishops,  and  simple  priests, 
the  cross-bearers  and  acolytes  in  this  great  proces- 
sion, have  gone  forth  into  exile  and  to  prison  for 
the  liberties  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  There  is  also 
in  the  example  of  St.  Thomas  this  especial  lesson 
for  the  days  in  which  we  live.  He  stood  against  all 
earthly  powers  for  those  points  in  which  the  spiritual 
office  of  the  Church  comes  in  contact  with  the  world, 
and  is  often  confounded  with  it.  He  testified  that 
even  in  these  things  the  liberty  of  the  Church  is  ulti- 
mately at  stake;  that  they  arc  a  providential  order 


154   RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

for  the  free  exercise  of  the  spiritual  office  and  mission 
of  the  Church ;  the  frontiers  which  protect  the  centre 
and  citadel,  not  only  of  spiritual  jurisdiction,  but 
even  of  the  faith. 

It  is  therefore  a  seasonable  and  excellent  pur- 
pose to  rebuild  in  Home  the  Church  of  St.  Thomas 
the  Martyr.  We  cannot  gather  up  his  dust  from 
the  soil  of  England,  nor  restore  his  tomb  in  the 
glories  of  Becket's  crown  at  Canterbury;  but  wo 
may  give  back  to  him  his  sanctuary  in  the  Holy 
City.  Of  old,  pilgrims  wore  deep  paths  in  the  lanes 
of  southern  England  to  visit  Becket's  shrine;  now 
they  will  find  him  where  he  came  for  shelter,  by  the 
side  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  The  ruin  of  the  great 
revolution,  which  burst  upon  the  opening  of  this 
century,  destroyed  his  church.  We  owe  to  him  a 
reparation.  As  the  noble  and  Catholic  people  of 
France  are  about  to  restore  at  Tours,  in  reparation 
for  the  sacrileges  of  the  past,  the  church  of  their  St. 
Martin,  so  ought  we  to  make  a  like  reparation  to 
our  St.  Thomas,  the  Martyr  of  our  liberties.  And  we 
English,  who  are  his  sons,  and  are  of  one  faith,  will 
not  be  backward.  We  owe  it  to  him  for  the  out- 
rages and  sacrileges  of  the  so-called  Reformation, 
•and  for  all  the  dishonour  done  to  him,  and  to  the 
Church  ho  loved  even  to  the  death.  We  owe  it 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.         155 

also  to  our  brethren  of  the  faith  in  every  land,  espe- 
cially in  Italy.  If  there  be  a  people  who  have  sown 
wheresoever  they  go,  and  wheresoever  their  speech 
is  known,  the  anti-Catholic  spirit  of  hostility  to  the 
Holy  See,  its  sovereignty,  and  its  freedom,  it  is  we 
English.  We  are  debtors  to  the  nations  whom  we 
have  so  long  troubled  with  the  inspirations  of  Henry 
II.  and  of  Henry  VIII.,  to  raise  our  witness  to  the 
cause  and  to  the  glory  of  St.  Thomas.  The  Catholics 
of  other  nations  will  not  refuse  their  aid.  St.  Tho- 
mas is  dear  to  Spain,  to  France,  to  Germany,  to  the 
Catholics  of  all  lands  to  whom  the  Church  of  God 
is  dear.  There  will  be  found  everywhere,  especially 
at  this  moment,  both  among  the  pastors  and  the 
flock,  those  who  discern  that  the  cause  of  St.  Thomas 
is  the  cause  of  the  Holy  See,  and  the  cause  of  this 
hour.  They  will  unite  with  us  in  honouring  in 
Rome  the  Martyr  of  the  ecclesiastical  immunities, 
whom  the  Holy  See  has  chosen  as  its  patron  in 
guarding  the  liberties  of  the  Church. 

There  is  a  great  fitness  too  in  erecting  the 
Church  of  St.  Thomas  by  the  side  of  the  venerable 
College  of  the  English  in  Eorne  ;  for  within  its  walls 
were  nurtured  the  aspirations  and  the  fortitude  of 
five-and-forty  youthful  martyrs,  who,  in  the  great 
persecution  of  England,  gave  their  lives  for  the 


156   KESTORATION  OF  THE  CHUECH  OF  ST.  THOMAS. 

testimony  of  Jesus.  A  simple  inscription  in  the 
upper  corridor  records  at  this  day  their  passion  and 
their  crown,  and  in  the  Church  of  St.  Thomas  they 
too  will  have  their  commemoration  —  perhaps  will 
be  one  day  upon  its  altars;  and  St.  Thomas  will 
have  here  in  Borne,  a  more  glorious  crown  than  even 
in  Canterbury — a  circle  of  his  sons  martyred  and 
crowned  like  himself,  for  the  same  liberties  and  for 
the  same  Church  he  loved  so  well. 

It  is  good  in  these  days,  when  on  every  side  the 
world  rings  with  voices  clamouring  for  the  rights  of 
man,  for  the  rights  of  freedom,  for  liberty  in  every 
form — of  speech,  of  action,  of  revolution,  to  raise  a 
witness  to  the  rights  of  God.  It  is  among  the  rights 
of  God  that  He  should  be  known  in  His  own  world, 
believed  in,  obeyed,  and  worshipped ;  that  His  Church 
should  possess  inviolate  the  freedom  and  the  sove- 
reignty which  He  has  bestowed  upon  it. 

The  rights  of  man  and  the  rights  of  God  cannot 
be  opposed,  except  by  the  usurpations  of  man.  God 
is  the  fountain  of  both ;  God  has  harmonised  them 
in  the  spiritual  and  temporal  sovereignty  with  which 
He  has  invested  His  Church ;  for  His  Church  is  His 
kingdom  among  men,  the  way  and  the  foretaste 
of  the  kingdom  of  eternal  justice.  St.  Thomas 
died  for  the  rights  of  God.  The  witness  passes  to 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  THOMAS.   157 

his  crown ;  but  the  cause  can  never  pass  away.  Prin- 
ciples are  eternal ;  and  the  liberties  of  the  Church, 
though  always  violated,  are  always  imperishable. 
'  Ubi  Spiritus  Domini,  ibi  libertas.'11  The  voice  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  through  the  Church  redeems  the 
world  from  the  bondage  and  abuse  of  human  wills. 
This  conflict  began  from  Pentecost.12  Then  Peter, 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  said  to  them,  '  Ye  princes 
of  the  people  and  ancients,  hear.  If  it  be  just  in 
the  sight  of  God  to  hear  you  rather  than  God,  judge 
ye.'  As  one  said  the  other  day,  and  he  a  successor 
of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  whose  name  is  already 
in  the  annals  of  this  glorious  conflict  for  the  rights 
of  God,  and  for  the  liberties  of  His  Church,  '  Simon 
may  die ;  but  Peter  lives  for  ever.' 

11  2  Cor.  iii.  17. 

12  Tune  repletus  Spiritn  Sancto  Pctrus  dixit  ad  cos  :  Principes 
populi  et  seniores,  aiulite.    Acts  iv.  8. 


VI. 


THE  BLESSED  SACKAMENT  THE  CENTRE 
OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH: 

At  tho  opoaing  of  St.  Wilfrid's  Cathedral,  York,  13G4. 


TO  THE 

EIGHT  REV.  ROBERT  CORNTHWAITE,  D.D. 

BISIIOP  OF  BEVERLEY, 

THIS  SERMON, 
PREACHED  AND  PRINTED  AT  HIS  DESIRE, 

IS  INSCRIBED 
BY  HIS  AFFECTIONATE  SERVANT, 

H.E.M. 


THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT  THE  CENTRE 
OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH. 


The  Word  was  made  Flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us.  ST.  JOHN  i.  12. 

"Wn  are  closing  a  great  Festival ;  I  do  not  mean  of 
to-day  alone,  but  of  these  eight  days  of  joy  in  all  the 
world.  The  Octave  of  Corpus  Chr.isti  ends  here  in- 
deed with  a  fitting  and  proportionate  solemnity — the- 
enthroning  of  Jesus  for  the  first  time  in  this  beau- 
tiful and  stately  church.  We  close  it,  therefore, 
with  a  double  joy.  But  in  all  these  eight  days  past 
there  has  been  a  festival  of  gladness  throughout  the 
Catholic  unity.  From  sunrise  to  sunset  there  has 
been  a  stir  of  joy  and  of  triumph  in  all  the  Church 
of  God.  It  has  been  full  of  the  consciousness  that 
its  Divine  Head  is  not  only  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father,  but  is  also  here  in  the  manifestation  of  His 
presence.  The  other  day,  when  the  Vicar  of  Jesiis 

M 


162  THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

Christ  bore  in  his  hands  the  Eucharistical  Pres- 
ence of  the  Word  Incarnate  with  more  than  bridal  or 
royal  procession,  he  set  the  whole  Church  in  motion, 
and  at  once  the  same  progress  of  the  Bridegroom 
and  of  the  King  came  forth  in  every  land.  Not  in 
the  Holy  City  alone,  where  the  Word  made  Flesh 
reigns  still  in  the  fulness  of  His  sovereignty,  nor  in 
the  remnant  of  His  patrimony  which  the  spoiler  has 
not  as  yet  rent  from  Him ;  but  in  poor  Naples,  once 
so  joyous,  now  so  afflicted;  in  Florence,  the  beau- 
tiful city,  now  grievously  tormented ;  and  in  Milan, 
the  home  of  St.  Charles,  a  special  Saint  and  guardian 
of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  —  in  Milan,  now  sorely 
"vexed  by  civil  and  ecclesiastical  contentions  ;  in 
Turin,  the  sanctuary  of  a  resplendent  miracle  of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament,  now  stained  by  a  contemp- 
tuous ingratitude  —  even  there  in  these  days  the 
disciples  have  followed  Jesus  in  the  beauty  and 
splendour  of  His  Presence.  But  much  more  in  the 
plains  of  Italy,  and  on  the  green  sides  of  the  Apen- 
nines, and  in  the  sunny  valleys  of  the  Tyrol;  in 
Catholic  France,  and  more  than  all  in  Catholic 
Spain ;  in  poor  Poland,  bleeding  under  the  weapons 
of  the  persecutor ;  and  in  the  far  West,  where 
brothers  are  shedding  brothers'  blood,  and  brave 
men  are  falling  as  grain  in  the  reaping,  or  rather 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  163 

as  beasts  at  the  shambles,  till  heaven  is  sick  and 
earth  is  weary  of  slaughter — in  all  the  world,  where- 
soever Jesus  is  present  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
there  in  these  days  His  disciples  have  followed  Him, 
as  when  they  walked  with  Him  through  the  corn- 
fields and  the  cities  of  Judaea  and  of  Galilee. 

Corpus  Christi'  is  a  second  Feast  of  the  Nativity ; 
a  Christmas  festival  in  the  summer-tide,  when  the 
snows  are  gone,  and  flowers  cover  the  earth.  And 
whence  comes  all  this  joy  but  from  the  divine  fact 
Avhich  St.  John  declares :  '  The  "Word  was  made 
Flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we  beheld  His 
glory'  ?  Morning  by  morning,  in  the  holy  Mass, 
the  Church  recites  this  great  charter  of  its  incorpo- 
ration and  of  its  existence.  Morning  by  morning  it 
bears  witness  to  the  divine,  permanent,  and  immut- 
able presence  of  Jesus  in  the  fulness  of  grace  and 
truth.  The  Blessed  Sacrament  is  the  Incarnation 
perpetually  present,  manifested  to  faith,  and  I  may 
say,  under  a  veil,  to  sense,  and  applied  to  us  by  the 
same  divine  power  by  which  it  was  accomplished. 

The  Word — that  is,  the  Eternal  Wisdom  or  In- 
telligence of  the  Father,  co-equal,  co- eternal,  con- 
substantial,  personal,  the  only-begotten  Son,  God  of 
God,  Light  of  light,  true  God  of  true  God,  in  all 
the  infinity  of  the  divine  perfections — was  mado 


164  THE  BLESSED  SACBA3IENT 

Flesh;  assumed,  that  is,  our  manhood  with  body 
and  soul  into  the  unity  of  His  Divine  Person ;  and 
the  flesh  and  manhood  became  the  flesh  and  man- 
hood of  God,  the  root  and  productive  principle  of 
the  new  creation.  From  the  natural  Body  of  Jesus 
spring  two  mysteries,  the  Eucharistical  or  Sacra- 
mental Body,  by  which  we  are  renewed  in  His  like- 
ness ;  and  the  mystical  Body,  or  the  Church,  in  which 
the  Head  is  united  by  a.  vital  and  substantial  union 
with  His  members,  namely,  the  one  holy  and  only 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  tabernacle  in 
which  He  dwells,  according  to  the  word  of  the  evan- 
gelist. He  made  His  dwelling  both  in  our  humanity 
and  in  the  midst  of  us ;  and  in  this  visible  tabernacle, 
ever  expanding  in  all  the  world,  perpetual  throughout 
all  ages,  He  dwells  under  the  canopy  of  the  heavenly 
court,  manifesting  His  glory  in  the  Seven  Sacra- 
ments of  His  grace,  and  in  the  infallible  doctrines 
of  the  faith. 

And  this  brings  us  to  a  truth  which  falls  in  na- 
turally with  our  thoughts  to-day.  I  mean  the  per- 
petuity of  the  presence  of  the  Incarnate  "Word  in  the 
Blessed  Sacrament,  as  the  basis  and  the  centre  of  an 
order  jof  divine  facts  and  operations  in  the  world. 
They  spring  from  it,  rest  upon  it,  and  are  united  to 
it ;  so  that  where  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is,  they  are : 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  165 

where  it  is  not,  they  cannot  be.  For  example;  in 
the  natural  order,  the  creation  is  the  basis,  and  its 
perpetuity  is  the  centre,  so  to  speak,  of  the  whole 
order  of  natural  facts  and  operations,  springing  from 
the  omnipotence  of  God,  whereby  this  world  was 
created  and  is  always  preserved.  These  facts  and 
operations  rest  upon  creation  as  their  basis,  spring 
from  it,  and  observe  its  laws.  Men  believe  in  them, 
because  they  are  sensible  and  palpable.  They  believe 
them  to  be  permanent  and  immutable.  They  believe 
in  the  laws,  powers,  operations,  activities  of  nature — 
in  the  succession  of  day  and  night,  of  seasons,  tides, 
and  growths ;  but  they  are  so  immersed  in  sense 
that  they  cannot  realise,  and  will  not  believe,  that 
there  is  a  higher  order  of  divine  facts  and  of  super- 
natural operations,  more  permanent,  more  change- 
less, more  unerring,  of  which  Jesus  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  the  creative  and  sustaining  centre.  Arid 
to  this  let  us  turn  our  thoughts  for  a  while. 

The  Blessed  Sacrament,  then,  is  Jesus  personally 
present  in  the  midst  of  us,  seen  by  faith,  received  in 
substance,  known  by  consciousness,  and  adored  in 
His  manifest  presence. 

1.  And,  first,  it  is  Jesus  present,  both  God  and 
man,  in  all  the  fulness  of  His  incarnate  person.'  As 
God,  He  was  always  present  in  the  world.  ''All 


166          THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

things  were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was  not 
anything  made  that  was  made/1  '  By  Him  all  things 
consist  ;'2  that  is,  hold  together,  cohere  in  the  per- 
manence of  their  existence.  From  the  beginning 
of  the  creation  the  Word  pervaded  all  things  by  His 
essence,  presence,  and  power.  He  was  therefore  per- 
sonally present,  but  not  as  the  Incarnate  Word  is 
present  now.  His  presence  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
is  the  fruifc  of  His  Incarnation ;  and  His  Incarnation 
is  a  presence  distinct  in  kind  from  His  presence  be- 
fore *  the  Word  was  made  Flesh,  and  dwelt  among 
us/$  It  is  the  perpetuity  of  the  same  presence  as 
that  with  which  His  disciples  were  familiar  in  the 
three  years  that  He  conversed  with  them,  and  in  the 
forty  days  after  He  rose  from  the  dead. 

When  He  said,  *  I  will  not  leave  you  orphans,  I 
will  come  to  you/  they  understood  Him  to  promise 
that  He,  the  very  same  Who  spoke  with  them,  would 
return  to  them.  And  on  the  night  of  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  after  He  arose  from  the  dead,  He  came, 
when  the  doors  were  shut,  suspending  the  laws  of 
nature,  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  said  unto  them  : 
'  See  My  hands  and  My  feet,  that  it  is  I  Myself ;  for 
a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  you  see  Me  to 

1  St.  John  i.  3.  -  Coloss.  i.  17. 

3  St.  John  i.  14. 


THE  CEXTEE  OF  liniUTABLE  TEUTH.  167 

have.'4  It  is  I,  the  very  same  Whom  you  have  known, 
the  same  Lord  and  Master  with  Whom  you  have 
eaten,  and  drnnk,  and  conversed ;  Whose  words  you 
have  heard,  Whose  miracles  you  have  witnessed; 
Whom  you  have  seen  to  multiply  the  bread  in  the 
wilderness,  and  to  walk  upon  the  water ;  on  Whose 
bosom  John  lay  at  supper,  and  Whom  you  have  loved 
as  your  brother,  kinsman,  and  friend.  It  is  I,  Who 
am  come  to  you  again  in  all  My  personal  identity, 
and  in  all  the  tenderness  of  My  divins  and  human 
sympathy.  It  was  in  this  sense  the  disciples  under- 
stood His  words,  when  before  His  ascension  He  said, 
'Behold,  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  con- 
summation of  the  world.'5  They  understood  Him  to 
promise  to  them  a  true  and  personal  presence,  which 
should  restore  all  they  had  before  possessed  of  near- 
ness to  Him  both  as  God  and  man.  Therefore  it  is 
that  Ho  said,  *  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go ;'  for 
the  coming  of  the  Paraclete  has  brought  with  it  the 
universal  presence  of  Jesus,  not  in  one  place  alone, 
but  in  all  the  Church ;  and  not  transiently  and  for  a 
moment,  but  abiding  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  It 
is  this  which  has  formed  the  centre  of  the  visible 
Church  on  earth.  It  is  Jesus  manifested  in  the 
Blessed  Sacrament :  Jesus  dwelling  in  the  Taber- 
«  St.  Luke  ixiv.  30.  *  St.  Matthew  xxriii.  20. 


168          THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

nacle,  over  whose  Divine  Presence  the  visible  Church 
rises  in  its  majesty  and  beauty  throughout  the  world, 
as  the  glorious  minster  at  our  side  rose  here,  the 
shrine  and  ciborium  of  the  Incarnate  Word.  In  all 
the  world  the  same  Sacramental  Presence  is  the  centre 
of  the  same  ritual  of  divine  worship.  Before  it,  day 
and  night,  hangs  the  light  and  witness  of  its  perpe- 
tuity. Before  Him  all  who  pass  bow  down ;  about 
His  presence  stand  seven  orders  of  ministers,  to  serve 
in  degrees  of  approach  to  His  person.  The  presence 
of  Jesus  offering  Himself  for  us  is  the  holy  Mass. 
The  holy  Mass  is  the  worship  of  the  Universal 
Church.  All  springs  from  it,  or  relates  to  it — the 
centre  and  the  source  of  all.  Such  is  His  personal 
Presence. 

2.  I  have  said,  He  is  seen  by  faith.  St.  John 
says,  '  Tbat  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which 
we  have  seen  with  our  eyes.'6  They  saw  Jesus — we 
see  Him  not ;  but  in  what  did  they  see  more  than 
we  ?  They  saw  Jesus,  and  Jesus  is  God.  They  saw 
therefore  God  manifest  in  the  stature  and  configura- 
tion of  our  manhood.  They  saw  the  manhood,  but 
the  Godhead  they  could  not  see.  They  saw  His 
divine  works ;  they  saw  His  glory — the  glory  of  His 
transfiguration,  of  His  resurrection,  of  His  ascension. 
•  1  St.  John  i.  1. 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  169 

But  the  glory  of  the  Only-begotten  of  the  Father  is 
the  essential  glory  of  the  eternal  Son :  His  coequality, 
His  infinite  perfections — of  love,  of  wisdom,  of  good- 
ness, and  of  power ;  hut  these  glories  no  natural 
eye  of  flesh  could  see.  What  they  saw,  we  see ;  with 
one  distinction.  We  see  His  Presence,  and  the  glory 
of  His  grace  and  truth ;  we  see  His  works  of  super- 
natural power,  and  the  perpetual  operations  of  His 
love.  Nay,  I  may  go  farther.  There  are  three  facul- 
ties of  sight :  sense,  reason,  and  faith ;  each  has  its 
sphere.  Sense,  unless  misdirected,  is  infallible  in  its 
reports.  Reason  elevates  and  corrects  sense,  and  has 
a  nobler  sphere  and  range  of  its  own,  a  higher  realm 
and  a  wider  jurisdiction.  But  faith  is  above  both, 
elevates  both,  corrects  both,  and  is  supreme  and  infal- 
lible in  a  sphere  which  is  divine  and  eternal.  The 
Jews,  who  saw  Jesus  by  sense,  knew  that  He  was  man, 
and  believed  Him  to  be  the  carpenter,  whose  mother 
and  sisters  they  knew.7  They  wondered  at  His  words, 
saying,  '•  How' doth  this  man  know  letters,  having 
never  learned  ?'8  Sense  carried  them  no  farther. 
Nicodemus,  by  reason,  knew  Him  to  be  'a  teacher 
come  from  God,  for  no  man  could  do  the  miracles' 
He  did,  '  unless  God  was  with  him.'9  This  was  a  dic- 
tate of  reason,  and  an  interpretation  of  facts  subject  to 

'  St.  Mark  vi.  3.  •  St.  John  vii.  15.  •  Ibid.  iii.  2. 


170  THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

sense,  whereby  sense  was  elevated  to  a  higher  truth. 
Peter  knew  Him  to  be  not  only  man  and  a  teacher 
come  from  God,  but  to  the  dictates  of  sense  and  rea- 
son he  added  the  illumination  of  faith,  which  elevated 
both.  When  Jesus  asked  him,  '  Whom  say  ye  that  I, 
the  Son  of  Man,  am  ?'  Peter  answered,  '  Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.'  Jesus  answered, 
'  Flesh  and  blood'  (that  is,  the  knowledge  which 
comes  by  sense  and  reason)  '  hath  not  revealed  it 
unto  thee,  but  My  Father  who  is  in  heaven  ;'10  that 
is,  the  illumination  of  faith  has  elevated  thee  to  this 
knowledge. 

In  like  manner  we  know  the  presence  of  Jesus  in 
the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Sense  reports  to  us  that 
what  we  see  has  the  aspect  of  bread ;  reason  tells  us 
that  everything  has  its  proper  substance.  But  the 
sense  cannot  penetrate  beyond  the  aspect.  It  has  no 
cognisance  of  what  lies  beneath  or  beyond.  Reason 
alone  can  pass  the  boundaries  of  sense.  Such  is  the 
dictate  and  report  of  sense  and  reason  upon  the  un- 
consecrated  Host.  But  the  same  reason  illuminated 
by  faith  knows  the  Incarnate  Word,  and  His  revela- 
tion, and  His  promises  of  presence  and  of  power.  It 
knows  that  Jesus  has  ordained  the  perpetuity  of  His 
own  Priesthood,  and  of  His  own  divine  action  where- 
>«  St.  Matthew  xvi.  17. 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  171 

by  the  bread  and  wine  pass  by  elevation  from  the 
order  of  nature,  in  which  sense  and  reason  dwell  and 
reign,  to  the  order  of  divine  power,  which  is  above 
nature,  wherein  faith  alone  is  supreme.  It  is  a  dic- 
tate of  the  reason  illuminated  by  faith  to  believe  that 
what  the  sense  still  sees  under  the  same  aspect  is, 
after  the  words  of  Jesus  have  been  spoken,  no  longer 
what  they  seem,  but  what  they  are  divinely  declared  to 
be.  Beason,  elevated  and  corrected  by  faith,  knows 
them  to  be  Jesus  personally  present  in  all  the  fulness 
of  His  Godhead  and  His  manhood,  under  a  veil,  or 
aspect,  which  is  visible  to  the  sense,  as  the  vesture 
He  wore,  which  was  not  Himself,  and  yet  was  the 
pledge  of  His  Presence,  and  the  channel  of  virtue 
which  went  out  of  Him  to  heal  those  who  touched  so 
much  as  the  hem  of  His  garment.  It  is  true,  indeed, 
that  we  do  not  see  the  visible  form  of  Jesus,  His 
sacred  countenance,  His  majestic  stature,  the  glory 
of  His  manhood.  '  In  cruce  latebat  sola  Deitas ;  at 
hie  latet  simul  et  humanitas.'  "While  He  was  upon 
earth  His  Godhead  lay  hid,  but  His  manhood  was 
visible ;  here  both  lie  hid,  and  only  His  vesture  ia 
revealed.  When  our  sense  and  reason  tell  us  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  is  visible,  then  the  same  reason 
by  the  light  of  faith  tells  us  Jesus  is  present,  and  wo 
behold  His  glory,  as  the  Only-begotten  of  the  Father, 


172  THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

the  Fountain  of  all  grace,  the  perpetual  and  divine 
Teacher  of  infallible  truth. 

3.  But  Jesus  not  only  manifests  Himself  to  our 
faith  ;  He  also  gives  Himself  to  us  as  our  food  ;  and 
we  receive  Him  by  His  substance. 

There  are  two  intellectual  worlds,  always  in  pre- 
sence of  each  other,  and  always  in  conflict :  two 
schools  of  thought,  two  teachers  contending  and  irre- 
concilable, two  tendencies,  and  two  pathways,  which 
diverge  from  one  another,  and  lead  directly  to  or  from 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  These  two  worlds  or 
schools  I  may  call  the  World  of  Substances  and  the 
World  of  Shadows.  The  revelation  of  God  teaches 
us  that  His  omnipotence  has  called  into  existence 
two  creations,  the  old  and  the  new,  and  that  He  is 
always  in  contact,  so  to  speak,  with  the  works  which 
His  omnipotence  has  made.  From  this  contact  arise 
five  divine  facts  :  the  Creation,  the  Incarnation,  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  the  mystical  Body,  the  Eesurrection 
of  the  Flesh.  These  are  all  of  them  works  and  ac- 
tions of  the  divine  Omnipotence.  The  first  four  are 
permanent  and  present  to  us.  They  are  truths  in 
a  series,  related  to  each  other.  The  last  four  are 
connected  by  a  special  relation.  The  last  three  pro- 
ceed from  the  second,  and  are  its  product  and  its 
fruit.  Now  the  Blessed  Sacrament  unites  them  to- 


THE  CENTRE  OP  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  173 

gether,  presupposes  or  prepares  for  them.  It  is  the 
presence  and  application  of  the  Incarnation,  and  the 
pledge  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  The  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  therefore  the  clasp  upon  this  chain  of 
divine  truths,  and  the  mystical  Body  of  the  Church 
is  the  circle  which  encompasses  and  perpetuates  them 
in  the  world.  The  creation  of  a  substantial  nature  in 
the  beginning,  the  Incarnation  by  the  union  of  two 
substances  in  one  Person,  the  substantial  presence 
of  Jesus  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  the  participation 
of  His  substance  by  His  members  in  the  mystical 
Body,  and  the  substantial  resurrection  of  our  bodies 
from  the  grave ;— all  these  are  truths  of  the  same 
order,  resting  upon  the  revelation  of  God,  and  taught 
by  the  Master  of  the  school  of  spirit  and  of  truth,  of 
reality  and  of  substance ;  that  is,  by  Jesus,  the  Eter- 
nal Truth,  and  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  wno  dwells  in  His 
Church,  and  through  it  teaches  by  His  divine  and 
infallible  voice.  Such,  then,  is  the  school  of  sub- 
stance, or  the  holy  Catholic  Church. 

The  school  of  shadoAvs  has  always  existed  by  its 
side,  sometimes  has  sprung  up  within  it,  but  has  been 
always  cast  out.  In  the  beginning,  the  Docetoe  denied 
the  substantial  reality  of  the  Manhood  of  Jesus,  and 
taught  that  it  was  a  phantasm,  an  apparition,  a 
heavenly  vision  ;  not  flesh  and  blood  taken  of  His 


174  THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

Immaculate  Mother.  In  the  so-called  Reformation 
of  the  Church,  there  were  those  who  denied  the  sub- 
stantial presence  of  Jesus  in  the  holy  Eucharist,  and 
taught  that  it  is  not  a  reality,  but  a  memorial,  a 
sign,  or  a  figure.  Having  denied  the  sacramental 
Body  of  Jesus,  it  was  but  consequent  that  they 
should  deny  also  His  mystical  Body ;  that  they 
should  deny  the  visible  perpetuity  and  visible  unity 
of  His  Church,  and  teach  that  it  is  a  body  spiritual, 
invisible,  impalpable,  withdrawn  from  sense,  hover- 
ing in  a  world  unseen.  It  is  no  wonder  that  of  their 
posterity  should  have  arisen  those  who  deny  the  In- 
carnation by  denying  the  Godhead  of  Jesus.  What 
are  these  but  the  Doceta3  of  these  latter  days,  as 
the  DocetaB  were  the  Sacramentarians  of  the  first 
century? 

In  their  train  has  come  a  more  logical  and  hardy 
unbelief;  and  men  now  deny  the  first  truth  and 
the  last  in  the  series  —  the  Resurrection  as  impos- 
sible ;  the  Creation  as  incredible ;  finally,  the  exist- 
ence of  God  as  undemonstrable.  And  so  men  are 
led  away  into  bondage ;  into  the  world  of  shadows, 
of  unreality,  of  unbelief.  This  school  reigns  more 
or  less  over  all  who  are  out  of  the  unity  of  the 
Church ;  because,  losing  the  unerring  guidance  of  the 
Divine  Teacher,  they  have  none  but  human  guides 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.      175 

to  lead  them,  and  human  criticism  upon  revelation 
as  their  basis  and  rule  of  faith. 

When,  then,  the  Son  of  God  in  prophecy  said : 
'  A  body  Thou  hast  fitted,'  or  prepared,  '  to  Me,'11 
He  spoke  of  His  natural  body,  of  the  substance  of 
our  humanity.  When  in  the  guest-chamber  'He 
took  bread,  and  blessed  it,  and  said,  This  is  My 
Body,'  He  spoke  likewise  of  the  same  natural  and 
substantial  Body  which  He  took  of  His  Immaculate 
Mother.  He  did  not  say:  'This  is  the  shadow  of 
My  body;'  it  is  therefore  the  substance  ;  He  did  not 
say:  'This  is  the  figure  of  My  body;'  though  even 
so  He  would  have  declared  it  to  be  the  substance, 
as  when  the  Holy  Ghost  declared  the  Son  to  be  '  the 
Figure  of  the  substance'12  of  the  Father.  For  in  the 
world  of  divine  realities  all  things  arc  true,  not  il- 
lusory ;  real,  not  phantastic. 

So,  again,  when  He  said  :  '  He  that  eateth  My 
flesh  and  drinketh  My  blood  dwelleth  in  Me,  and  I 
in  him.'13  I,  that  is,  as  you  have  known  Me,  though 
in  a  manner  you  know  not  as  yet.  '  My  flesh  is 
meat  indeed,  and  My  blood  is  drink  indeed.'14  But 
it  is  neither  indeed,  unless  it  be  both,  in  substance 
and  reality.  Again ;  '  As  the  living  Father  hath  sent 

»  Heb.  x.  5.  I2  Ibid.  i.  3. 

"  St.  John  vi.  55,  56.  »•  Ibid. 


176  THE  BLESSED  SACKAMENT 

Me,  and  I  live  by  the  Father,  so  he  that  eateth  Me, 
the  same  also  shall  live  by  Me.'15  That  is,  as  I,  the 
Eternal  Son,  as  God  live  by  consubstantial  unity 
with  the  Godhead  of  the  Father,  so  he  that  eateth 
Me  shall  live  by  consubstantial  union  with  My  hu- 
manity.10 To  deny  the  first  part  of  these  words  is 
Arianism ;  to  deny  the  last  is  to  mutilate  the  sense 
and  the  sequence  of  the  divine  reasoning.  The  life 
of  God  is  in  the  substance  of  God ;  the  life  of  man 
is  in  the  substance  of  man.  To  explain  it  in  any 
other  way  is  to  deny  its  reality  and  truth.  By  the 
substance  of  Jesus  communicated  to  us  we  become 
'  of  His  flesh  and  of  His  bones,'17  and  have  thereby  in 
us  the  pledge  of  a  resurrection,  in  the  substance  of 
the  body,  to  eternal  life.  These  truths,  as  I  have 
said,  are  in  series ;  they  hang  upon  the  same  thread 
of  the  Divine  veracity  :  the  substantial  Incarnation, 
the  substantial  presence  of  Jesus  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  the  substantial  regeneration  of  soul  and 
body  by  the  union  of  the  members  with  their  Head, 
the  substantial  resurrection  of  the  flesh.  Break  this 
thread  anywhere,  and  all  these  truths,  sooner  or 
later,  disappear  into  the  world  of  shadows  and  un- 
realities, of  words  and  figures,  which,  driven  beyond 

"  St.  John  vi.  55,  50.          16  St.  Hilary,  lib.  viii.  De  Trinitatc. 
"  Ephcs.  v.  30. 


THE  CENTRE  OP  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  177 

the  frontiers  of  the  Church  of  God,  hovers  around 
the  suburbs,  but  can  never  enter  within  its  unity  or 
endure  its  light. 

4.  The  presence,  then,  which  is  seen  by  faith  is 
known  by  a  supernatural  consciousness ;  and  that  in- 
cludes all  the  powers  of  the  soul.  "We  are  conscious 
of  truths,  which  we  cannot  demonstrate,  because  they 
are  before  all  reasoning,  from  which  all  reasoning 
springs,  and  to  which  all  reasoning  in  the  end  bears 
witness.  We  are  conscious  of  our  own  existence  and 
of  the  existence  of  God.  I  do  not  mean  originally, 
but  after  these  truths  are  known  to  us,  by  whatsoever 
means  they  are  known.  We  are  conscious  of  those 
truths  which  are  the  most  intuitive  or  most  imme- 
diately known ;  and  this  consciousness  signifies  a 
higher,  deeper,  and  surer  kind  of  knowledge.  When 
I  say,  then,  that  we  know  the  presence  of  Jesus  by 
a  consciousness,  I  mean  that,  in  addition  to  all  the 
knowledge  that  sense  and  reason  and  faith  bestow 
upon  us,  we  have  also  a  knowledge  which  springs 
from  hope  and  from  love,  from  communion  with 
Him  and  experience  of  His  grace  and  power.  It 
is  against  this  that  the  masters  of  false  philosophy 
set  themselves  with  much  derision;  and  yet  it  is 
self-cvidently  true.  We  may  be  conscious  of  what 
we  know;  we  may  know  what  we  cannot  compre- 

N 


178          THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

hend.  Comprehension  is  not  the  condition  of  know- 
ledge. To  comprehend  anything,  I  must  be  able  to 
circumscribe  it  in  a  definition,  and  to  fix  its  bound- 
aries in  my  thoughts.  But  the  highest  truths  refuse 
this  treatment,  and  pass  beyond  the  horizon  of  a 
finite  intelligence.  And  yet  they  are  not  only  true, 
but  are  the  most  necessary  truths,  of  which  not  only 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  they  are  themselves  the 
first  principles  and  necessary  conditions  of  a  whole 
order  of  truths.  They  are  transcendent  because  they 
pass  beyond  the  comprehension  of  our  finite  intelli- 
gence; but  they*  are  transcendent  because  they  are 
divine,  and  because  divine  are  true.  For  instance  ; 
who  can  comprehend  eternity,  immensity,  infinity, 
self-existence  ?  And  yet  God  is  all  these  ;  and  the 
knowledge  of  God  is  the  foundation  of  a  whole  world 
of  subordinate  truths,  both  in  nature  and  in  grace. 
These  truths  pass  beyond  our  horizon,  as  the  path  of 
the  planets,  or  the  vaster  and  incalculable  sweep  of 
comets ;  yet  we  know  these,  and  apprehend  and  con- 
template them  with  the  fixed  certainty  of  the  highest 
knowledge.  We  may  apprehend  what  we  cannot  com- 
prehend, as  in  eternity  we  shall  see  God  as  He  is ; 
but  not  wholly,  for  the  beatific  vision  is  finite ;  but 
the  Object  and  Source  of  bliss  is  infinite. 

So  it  may  be  said  of  the  presence  of  Jesus  in  the 


THE  CENTEE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  179 

Blessed  Sacrament.  The  Council  of  Trent,  with  the 
wonderful  and  unerring  precision  with  which  the 
Church  deals  with  philosophy  when  it  is  in  contact 
with  the  dogmas  of  faith,  declares,  'that  our  Saviour 
sits  always  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  in  heaven, 
according  to  the  natural  manner  of  existence ;  but 
that  He  is  in  many  places  sacramentally  present 
with  us  by  His  substance ;  by  that  mode  of  existence 
which,  although  it  can  scarcely  be  expressed  in 
words,  nevertheless,  by  the  intellect  illuminated  by 
faith,  may  be  apprehended  as  possible  with  God.'18 

And  what  is  this  but  what  we  read  in  the  Gospel, 
when  Jesus  walked,  in  another  form,  with  Cleophas 
and  his  companion  to  Emmaus  ?  They  at  first  knew 
Him  not,  and  yet  their  hearts  burned  within  them. 
They  knew  Him  afterwards,  and  were  conscious  of 
His  presence.  And  when  the  disciples  sat  around 
Him  in  the  morning  light,  by  the  sea  of  Tiberias, 
He  conversed  with  them,  and  distributed  to  them 
the  broiled  fish  and  the  bread  which  He  had  mi- 
raculously prepared.  They  knew  Him.  John  had 
known  Him  from  the  first,  and  Peter  had  cast  him- 
self into  the  sea  to  go  to  Him.  Nevertheless,  their 
sense  was  dazed,  and  their  reason  was  overcome  by 
the  nearness  of  God.  '  And  no  man  durst  ask  Him, 
»  ConcU.  Trid.  Sess.  xii.  c.  1. 


180          THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

"Who  art  Thou  ?' — why  should  they? — '  knowing  that 
it  was  the  Lord.'  A  consciousness,  above  all  sense 
and  reasoning,  filled  them  with  a  certainty  too  great 
for  words,  surpassing  even  the  bounds  of  intelligence ; 
and  yet  infallible  and  all-sufficing. 

5.  And  lastly,  Jesus  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
is  adored  in  the  glory  of  the  Only -begotten  of  the 
Father ;  God  of  God,  Light  of  lijht,  true  God  of 
the  true  God,  '  the  "Word  made  Flesh  dwells  among 
us,  and  we  behold  His  glory,'  and,  beholding,  we 
adore  Him  in  the  glory  of  His  kingdom.  This  is 
the  test  by  which  faith  is  discerned  from  unbelief. 
We  worship  Him  here,  as  the  disciples  worshipped 
Him  upon  the  mountain  in  Galilee.  But  the  teach- 
ers and  the  disciples  of  the  world  of  shadows  deny 
that  any  adoration  is  intended  or  to  be  given  to 
Jesus  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Either  they  be- 
lieve that  He  is  present,  or  that  He  is  not ;  if  He 
be,  He  is  to  be  worshipped ;  if  He  be  not,  then 
where  is  their  faith  ?  But  error  convicts  itself,  when 
it  would  convict  us.  It  says  Catholics  worship  the 
Host,  but  the  Host  is  bread ;  therefore  Catholics 
worship  bread,  which  is  idolatry.  But  this  proves 
that  they  who  would  convict  us  are  convicted  them- 
selves of  not  believing  either  in  the  presence  of 
Jesus,  or  in  the  veracity  of  His  word.  They  who 


THE  CENTKE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  181 

believe  in  the  presence  of  Jesus  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  must  adore  Him  in  it ;  they  who  do 
not  adore  Him  in  it  cannot  believe  that  He  is 
there.  The  Catholic  Church,  which  by  divine  faith 
knows  and  teaches  the  mystery  of  His  Presence, 
adores  Him  there  in  all  the  world.  It  has  adored 
Him  from  the  beginning,  it  adores  Him  now,  it  will 
adore  Him  till  He  comes  again,  and  sacraments  shall 
pass  away  in  vision.  But  this  adoration  contains 
the  whole  power  of  grace  and  truth,  whereby  we  are 
sanctified ;  for  Jesus  on  the  altar  is  the  centre  of  all 
the  sacraments  and  supernatural  graces  which  flow 
from  Him  throughout  the  Church ;  and  the  worship 
we  offer  to  Him  is  the  divine  worship  of  God,  in 
prayer,  and  praise,  and  thanksgiving,  and  oblation 
of  ourselves  in  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  as  to  our 
Creator  and  Redeemer,  our  Teacher  and  Master,  our 
Brother,  Kinsman,  and  Friend.  This  worship  admits 
us  to  a  singular  intimacy.  We  speak  with  Him  as  a 
friend  to  a  friend,  face  to  face,  opening  our  hearts  to 
His  Sacred  Heart,  and  conversing  with  God  as  with 
one  who  knows  all  we  are  by  personal  experience 
and  human  sympathy,  and  is  infinitely  pitiful  and 
divinely  tender  in  His  love. 

All  other  sacraments  arc  transient,  and  pass  with 
the  action  by  which  they  are  effected ;  but  the  Sacra- 


182          THE  BLESSED  SACEAMENT 

inent  of  the  Altar  is  permanent,  and  sets  before  ns 
the  Incarnate  Word  as  the  object  of  abiding  con- 
templation. St.  Paul  says  that  '  God,  who  com- 
manded the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath 
shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ.'19  These  words  have  a  special  fulfilment  in 
the  Holy  Sacrament.  'We  behold  His  glory,'  both 
as  God  and  Man — His  sanctity,  justice,  love,  pity, 
and  long  -  suffering,  as  God ;  His  humility,  gener- 
osity, patience,  compassion,  as  Man.  He  is  the 
pattern  of  all  perfection  set  before  us,  that  by  con- 
templation we  may  learn  what  the  letter  of  no  law 
can  teach — the  perfections  of  the  Sacred  Heart ;  that 
from  it  we  may  draw  our  motives  as  well  as  our 
measures  of  love  to  God  and  man ;  and  that  by  con- 
templating it  we  may  be  conformed  to  it,  and  by 
gazing  on  it  we  may  grow  into  the  same  likeness. 
'  We  all,  beholding  the  glory  of  the  Lord  with  open 
face,  are  transformed  into  the  same  image  from  glory 
to  glory,  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.'20  This  has 
assimilated  to  itself  the  members  of  His  mystical 
Body,  and  made  them  like  Himself.  The  life  of 
Jesus  is  impressed  upon  His  servants.  His  saints 
reflect  Him,  each  one  in  his  way  and  measure ;  and 
M  2  Cor.  iv.  6.  20  Ib.  iii.  19. 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  183 

their  conformity  arises  from  a  double  power  of  as- 
similation, from  contemplation  and  communion  :— 
contemplation,  by  which  He  illuminates  and  informs 
His  servants  with  His  own  mind  and  example;  com- 
munion, by  which  He  dwells  in  them,  pervades  them 
with  His  substance,  changes  them  into  the  likeness 
of  His  Sacred  Heart  and  of  His  deified  human  will, 
accomplishing  within  them  that  which  by  faith  they 
contemplate  in  Himself.  All  this  is  contained  in 
the  adoration  which  is  offered  to  Jesus  ever  present 
in  the  fulness  of  His  divine  Personality,  the  King, 
the  Lawgiver,  the  Teacher  of  His  Church.  In  ten 
thousand  sanctuaries  Jesus  offers  Himself  day  by 
day  to  His  eternal  Father ;  and  His  disciples  adore 
Him  with  a  service  which  rests  not  day  or  night, 
with  a  living  consciousness  of  the  divine  power  and 
glory  of  His  Presence. 

Such,  then,  is  the  centre  of  the  supernatural 
order  of  grace  and  truth  in  the  Church  on  earth. 
It  is  also  the  fountain  of  all  its  jurisdiction  and 
of  all  its  divine  action  upon  mankind.  It  may  be 
therefore  truly  said,  that  where  Jesus  is  present  in 
the  Blessed  Sacrament,  there  is  present  all  that  God 
has  ordained  for  the  salvation  of  men.  The  Blessed 
Sacrament,  then,  binds  together  the  whole  order  of 
divine  facts  by  which  we  are  redeemed.  The  In- 


184          THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

carnation  of  the  Eternal  Son,  His  exaltation  to  be 
the  Head  of  His  Church,  the  constitution  and  or- 
ganisation of  His  mystical  Body,  the  coming  and 
inhabitation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  united  by  an  indis- 
soluble and  eternal  union  to  that  Body,  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Seven  Sacraments — all  these  are  works  of 
omnipotence,  and,  as  I  have  said,  divine  facts  per- 
manent-in  the  world  and  imperishable,  because  sus- 
tained by  the  same  power  from  which  they  flow. 
They  constitute  an  order,  because  they  are  related 
to  each  other,  some  proceeding  from  others,  the 
lower  depending  on  the  higher,  in  the  disposition 
of  God's  wisdom  and  power.  Being  an  order,  they 
constitute  a  perfect  whole,  a  unity  in  itself.  They 
are  sustained  by  resting  upon  their  centre,  the  Pre- 
sence of  the  Incarnate  "Word,  and  they  are  incorpo- 
rated and  enshrined  in  the  Church,  which  is  one, 
visible,  undivided,  and  universal,  the  sanctuary  of 
God  among  men. 

Wheresoever,  then,  this  drvine  order  is,  in  the 
unity  of  His  Church,  there  is  the  whole  dispensation 
of  grace  through  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  His  sacra- 
ments, jurisdiction,  and  authority. 

There  is  also  His  whole  and  perfecb  revelation, 
'  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,'  without  addition,  dimi- 
nution, or  change  of  a  jot  or  of  a  tittle.  For  what 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  185 

is  truth,  or  the  dogma  of  faith,  but  the  outline 
or  delineation  of  these  divine  facts,  first  each  one 
severally,  next  all  collectively,  in  the  order  and  unity 
by  which  God  has  combined  them  together  ?  What 
are  the  doctrines  of  faith  but  the  delineation  of 
the  Presence  of  Jesus,  and  all  that  flows  from  it 
on  the  intelligence  of  the  whole  mystical  Body 
with  the  pencil  of  light  by  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
traced  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon 
the  minds  of  the  Apostles  ?  The  divine  facts  are 
the  substance,  doctrine  is  but  the  reflection,  or  the 
conformity  of  the  human  reason  to  the  divine  by  the 
intervention  of  these  facts  of  almighty  power.  It 
is  not  the  reason  which  creates  dogma,  any  more 
than  the  eye  creates  the  imRge  upon  the  surface  of 
the  water.  It  is  the  creation  of  God  which  reflects 
itself  upon  both  the  water  and  the  eye.  "We  see  what 
God  has  created,  and  by  a  power  which  God  alone 
can  bestow.  So  with  the  dogma  of  faith.  What  is 
the  doctrine  of  the  Presence  of  Jesus  in  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  of  the  mystical  Body,  of  the  Church 
reigning  in  heaven,  or  purifying  beyond  the  grave, 
or  in  warfare  upon  earth,  and  consequently,  of  the 
Communion  of  Saints,  their  intercession  and  invo- 
cation, of  the  Seven  Sacraments,  including  the  juris- 
diction over  souls,  the  power  of  absolution,  and  the 


186          THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

like — what  are  all  these  but  the  outlines  and  reflec- 
tions of  an  order  of  divine  facts,  springing  from  tho 
Incarnation,  permanent  and  imperishable,  in  which 
are  verified  the  words  of  the  evangelist,  '  We  saw 
His  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  Only-begotten  of  the 
Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth'  ?21 

This  it  is  which  accounts  for  the  immutability  of 
the  dogma  of  faith  in  the  midst  of  an  intellectual 
world  of  flux  and  change,  where  nothing  holds  its 
form  for  half  a  generation,  or  half  the  life-time  of  a 
man. 

Take  for  example  the  changeless  identity  of  the 
faith  which  St.  Paulinus  and  St.  Wilfrid  preached  in 
York  :  the  supremacy  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Seven  Sacraments,  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Altar,  the 
Communion  and  Intercession  of  the  Saints,  the  expi- 
ation of  Purgatory,  the  honour  due  to  the  Mother 
of  God.  St.  Bede,  in  the  century  after,  recites  all 
these  as  the  faith  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  people.  Pass 
over  nine  hundred  years  ;  these  same  doctrines  lived 
on  in  the  hearts  and  mouths  of  the  Catholics  of 
England — for  them  they  contended  and  were  mar- 
tyred. Pass  over  three  hundred  years  again ;  they 
are  the  doctrines  which  the  successor  of  St.  Paulinus 
and  St.  Wilfrid  preaches  still  to  the  remnant  of  their 
«  St.  John  i.  14. 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  187 

children.  Whence  comes  this  marvellous  and  super- 
natural immutability  of  dogma  ?  From  the  perpetual 
and  supernatural  immutability  of  the  order  of  divine 
facts,  which  these  doctrines  only  delineate  and  ex- 
press. The  shadow  cannot  vary  when  the  substance 
which  shapes  it  is  changeless,  and  the  light  which 
casts  it  never  wavers.  The  divine  facts  are  immut- 
able ;  and  their  outline  is  cast  upon  the  intelligence 
of  the  Church  by  '  the  Father  of  lights,  with  whom 
there  is  no  change,  nor  shadow  of  vicissitude.'22 

Even  in  the  great  Greek  schism,  which  has  rent 
itself  from  obedience  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  and 
after  its  schism  laboured  to  justify  it  by  errors  which 
border  upon  heresy,  even  there  all  the  conditions 
of  truth  and  grace  remain.  In  a  moment,  as  once 
already  in  the  Council  of  Florence,  if  it  would  but 
renounce  its  national  pride,  its  schism,  and  the  con- 
tentious if  not  heretical  errors,  which  it  has  elabo- 
rated, it  might  be  restored  as  a  whole  to  Catholic 
unity.  It  has  valid  orders,  and  the  presence  of 
Jesus,  and  the  whole  order  of  divine  facts  and 
truths,  less  only  by  its  schism  and  its  errors.  But 
it  is  recoverable,  and  one  day  may  rise  again  as  from 
the  dead.  Not  so  those  bodies  which  have  lost  the 
perpetual  presence  of  Jesus  in  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
»  St.  James  i.  17. 


188          THE  BLESSED  SACEAMENT 

ment,  and  mutilated  the  order  of  divine  facts  and 
the  organisation  of  the  mystical  Body  :  for  them  cor- 
porate reunion  is  impossible.  They  are  in  disso- 
lution, and  must  he  re-created  by  the  same  divine 
power.  Their  members  may  be  saved  one  by  one, 
as  men  picked  off  from  a  raft,  or  from  a  reef;  but 
the  ship  is  gone ;  its  whole  structure  is  dissolved. 
There  remains  no  body,  or  frame,  to  be  recovered 
from  the  wreck. 

For  where  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  not,  all  dies. 
As,  when  the  sun  departs,  all  things  sicken  and  de- 
cay, and  when  life  is  gone  the  body  returns  to  its 
dust ;  so  with  any  province  or  member  of  the 
Church.  There  was  a  time  when  the  truth  and 
grace  which  went  out  from  York  spread  throughout 
the  whole  of  northern  England,  and  bound  it  toge- 
ther in  a  perfect  unity  of  faith  and  communion,  of 
Christian  intelligence  and  Christian  charity.  There 
was  but  one  jurisdiction  reigning  over  all  the  chil- 
dren of  St.  Wilfrid,  guiding  them  by  a  divine  voice 
of  changeless  faith,  and  sanctifying  them  by  the 
Seven  Sacraments  of  grace.  But  in  those  days  this 
grand  old  minster  was  the  majestic  tabernacle  of  the 
Word  made  Flesh.  Jesus  dwelt  there  in  the  divine 
mystery  of  the  Holy  Eucharist.  His  presence  radi- 
ated on  every  side,  quickening,  sustaining,  uphold- 


THE  CENTEB  OF  IMMUTABLE  TBUTH.      189 

ing  the  perpetual  unity  of  His  mystical  Body.  Then 
came  a  change  —  slight,  indeed,  to  sense,  but  in 
the  sight  of  God  fraught  -with  inexhaustible  conse- 
quences of  supernatural  loss.  Does  any  one  know 
the  name  of  the  man  who  removed  the  Blessed  Sa- 
crament from  York  Minster  ?  Is  it  written  in  his- 
tory? or  is  it  blotted  out  from  the  knowledge  of  men, 
and  known  only  to  God  and  His  holy  angels  ?  Who 
did  it,  and  when  it  was  done,  I  cannot  say.  Was  it 
in  the  morning  or  in  the  evening?  Can  we  hope 
that  some  holy  priest,  in  sorrow,  yielding  to  the 
violence  of  the  storm  then  falling  upon  the  Church, 
out  of  love  to  his  Divine  Master,  removed  His  Eu- 
charistical  Presence  to  save  it  from  profanation  ?  Or 
was  it  some  sacrilegious  hand  that  dragged  Him 
from  His  throne,  as  of  old  He  was  dragged  from 
Gethsemani  to  Calvary  ?  We  cannot  tell.  It  was 
a  terrible  deed ;  and  the  name  of  him  who  did  it,  if 
it  be  recorded,  has  upon  it  a  terrible  brand.  But  a 
change  which  wrought  both  on  earth  and  in  heaven 
had  been  accomplished.  The  city  of  York  went  on 
the  day  after  as  the  day  before.  But  the  Light  of 
life  had  gone  out  of  it.  Men  were  busy,  as  not 
knowing  or  not  believing  what  was  done,  and  what 
would  follow  from  the  deed.  Next  day  there  was  no 
holy  sacrifice  offered  in  the  minster.  The  Scriptures 


190  THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

were  read  there,  but  no  divine  Teacher  was  there  to 
interpret  them.  The  Magnificat  was  chanted  still ; 
hut  it  rolled  along  the  empty  roof,  for  Jesus  was  no 
longer  on  the  altar.  So  it  is  to  this  day.  There 
is  no  light,  no  taheruacle,  no  altar ;  nor  can  he,  till 
Jesus  shall  return  thither.  It  stands  like  the  open 
sepulchre  ;  and  we  may  believe  that  angels  are  there, 
ever  saying :  '  He  is  not  here.  Come  and  see  the 
place  where  the  Lord  was  laid.'23 

But  this  is  not  all.  The  change,  so  imperceptible 
to  sense,  in  the  supernatural  order  is  potent  and 
irresistible.  The  centre  of  the  order  of  grace  was 
taken  away,  and  the  whole  had .  lost  its  unity  and 
its  coherence.  Separation  from  the  visible  Body  of 
Christ  is  separation  from  the  presence  and  assist- 
ance of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  inhabits  it.  There  is 
no  influx  of  His  divine  and  infallible  light  into  the 
intelligence  of  a  body  which  breaks  from  the  unity 
of  the  Church.  There  t  is  no  divine  voice  speak- 
ing through  it  as  His  organ  of  immutable  truth. 
Straightway  it  began  to  dissolve  and  go  to  pieces. 
The  sinews  relaxed  and  lost  their  tenacity,  the  joints 
and  bands  of  the  mystical  Body  parted  asunder.  For 
three  hundred  years  it  has  been  returning  again  to 
its  dust.  In  the  day  when  the  Blessed  Sacrament  was 
»  St.  Matthew  xxviii.  6. 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.      191 

carried  out  of  York  Minster,  the  whole  population 
of  England  was  contained  within  the  unity  of  the  one 
body.  Now  hardly  one  half  remains  to  the  Church 
which  taught  the  fatal  lesson  of  separation.  From 
generation  to  generation,  by  a  succession  of  wast- 
ing secessions,  divisions,  and  subdivisions,  the  flock 
it  cannot  retain  when  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  no 
longer  upon  the  altar,  has  wandered-  from  it  and 
dispersed. 

And  what  has  happened  visibly  in  its  external 
divisions  of  communion  has  wrought  invisibly  in 
the  internal  aberrations  of  its  doctrines.  The  order 
of  divine  facts  being  broken  through,  and  the  sub- 
stance shattered,  the  shadow  betrayed  its  ruin.  What 
reflection  does  the  Anglican  Church  leave  upon  the 
intelligence  of  the  people  ?  If  dogma  be  the  intel- 
lectual conception  of  divine  realities,  what  dogma  is 
to  be  found  where  the  divine  realities  of  the  sacra- 
mental Body  and  mystical  Body  of  Jesus,  His  pre- 
sence, His  sacrifice,  His  seven  Sacraments,  His  infal- 
lible and  perpetual  voice,  are  denied  ? 

But  into  this  I  will  not  enter.  I  have  no  will, 
on  such  a  day  as  this,  to  speak  controversially. 
One  word  is  all  I  will  say.  The  reformers  of  the 
Church  of  England  took  for  the  basis  of  their  re- 
ligion, not  the  perpetual  and  infallible  teaching  of 


192  .        THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

the  Spirit  of  Jesus  in  His  Church,  but  the  Bible. 
A  written  book  was  erected  in  the  place  of  the  living 
Teacher,  so  as  to  exclude  His  supreme  living  voice. 
Anglican  Christianity  was  to  be  based  upon  the 
Bible.  But  it  is  precisely  this  basis  that  Anglicans 
have  ruined  under  their  own  feet.  So  sure  is  it  that 
the  Incarnate  Word  in  the  Tabernacle  and  the  writ- 
ten Word  in  the  Scriptures  cannot  be  put  asunder; 
they  come  and  they  go  together. 

But  it  is  more  than  time  to  make  an  end. 

Let  it  be,  then,  your  chief  work  to  propagate  the 
knowledge  and  love  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  not 
only  for  the  sanctification  of  the  faithful,  but  for  the 
conversion  of  those  who  have  been  robbed  of  the 
Presence  of  Jesus.  The  people,  that  is  the  poor,  of 
England,  were  innocent  of  the  great  offence.  They 
did  not  remove  their  Lord  from  the  altar.  They 
were  disinherited  of  their  true  birthright  in  His  Pre- 
sence. They  did  not  pull  down  His  throne.  They 
rose  in  arms,  and  especially  in  northern  England, 
for  the  faith  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 24  I  believe 
there  is  no  surer  instrument  of  their  return  to  the 

24  Iii  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace  the  people  from  the  borders  of 
Scotland  to  the  Humher  bound  themselves  by  oath  to  maintain 
their  religion.  Their  standards  were  Christ  Crucified  and  the 
Chalice  with  the  Host. — Lingard's  History  of  England,  vol.  vi. 
pp.  254,  255. 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.      198 

unity  of  grace  and  truth  than  the  manifestation  of 
the  love  of  Jesus  in  the  Holy  Eucharist.  It  is  a 
way  of  controversy  altogether  uncontroversial.  It  has 
no  sharp  accents,  no  contentious  tones,  no  wrangling 
arguments.  It  bears  witness  by  its  own  light,  and 
preaches  by  its  divine  silence. 

Moreover,  it  is  a  witness  for  truth  which  contains 
all  truth.  It  preaches  the  Incarnation,  the  unity,  per- 
petuity, imperishableness,  and  divine  immutability  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  faith ;  communion  with  Je- 
sus, communion  with  the  living  and  the  dead,  with 
the  whole  Church  on  earth,  with  the  Saints  in  hea- 
ven. 

And  besides  this,  it  draws  with  its  own  sweet- 
ness, and  holds  by  its  own  attraction.  It  convinces 
the  intellect  by  its  own  light,  and  persuades  the  will 
by  its  own  power  of  love  ;  thereby  winning  the  soul 
in  all  its  faculties,  the  whole  man,  to  the  obedience 
of  faith. .  He  who  believes  in  the  Presence  of  Jesus 
in  the  Tabernacle  cannot  long  doubt  that  His  mys- 
tical Body  is  one,  visible,  indivisible,  and  infallible ; 
that  its  voice  is  the  voice  of  Jesus,  divine  and  change- 
less in  every  age  :  and  believing  this,  he  cannot 
linger  long  upon  the  threshold  of  the  only  Church 
of  God  among  men.  Thus  the  unity  of  the  true  fold 
and  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  is  spreading 

o 


19-1  THE  BLESSED  SACEAMENT 

once  more  in  England,  evenly  and  irresistibly  as  a 
circle  on  the  waters. 

But  if  you  would  make  other  men  to  know  and 
love  Jesus  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  you  must  first 
be  disciples  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  yourselves. 
You  must  know  and  love  Him,  then,  with  an  especial 
fidelity.  Make  Him  the  support  of  your  supernatural 
life  in  sacramental  communion  as  often  as  you  may ; 
in  spiritual  communion  as  often  as  you  can ;  in 
daily  yisits  to  the  Presence  of  Jesus,  kneeling  in 
prayer,  or  sitting  in  silence  at  His  feet,  as  often  and 
as  long  as  the  works  .and  hindrances  of  life  will  per- 
mit. Such  was  the  source  of  the  power  and  sanctity 
of  St.  Mary  Magdalene  of  Pazzi,  whose  festival  we 
have  begun  to  commemorate  in  the  second  Vespers 
of  to-day.  When  she  was  a  child,  before  she  was 
admitted  to  holy  Communion,  she  used  to  follow 
her  mother  to  the  steps  of  the  altar,  and  creep 
close  to  her  side  as  she  received  the  bread  of  life, 
because,  as  she  said,  she  was  thereby  nearer  to  the 
Presence  of  Jesus.  And  through  her  life  of  superna- 
tural sanctity  in  the  cloister,  she  used  to  venerate 
her  sisters  as  they  returned  from  Communion,  calling 
them  the  living  tabernacles  of  Jesus.  This  habit  of 
faith  would  make  us  to  be  disciples  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  and  would  make  it  to  be  the  support  of 


THE  CENTRE  OF  IMMUTABLE  TRUTH.  195 

our  life.  And  then  our  relation  to  Him  would  be 
the  measure  and  the  motive  of  our  actions.  We 
should  begin  every  day  with  Him  in  the  morning, 
and  go  out  from  His  Presence  to  our  daily  work ; 
and  in  the  evening  return  to  His  side  again  before 
we  lie  down  to  rest.  And  so  His  words  would  be 
fulfilled  in  us,  '  A  little  while,  and  now  you  shall  not 
see  Me ;  and  again  a  little  while,  and  ye  shall  see 
Me  :  because  I  go  to  the  Father.'25  He  is  gone  to  the 
Father;  and  yet  He  is  here,  and  we  see  Him,  and 
behold  His  glory ;  but  in  a  little  while  we  shall  see 
Him  as  He  is.  Here  He  is  veiled ;  but  the  veil 
grows  finer  year  by  year ;  a  sense  of  nearness,  a 
consciousness  of  relation  to  Him,  grows  so  lively 
and  so  sensible,  that  it  turns  all  the  balance  of  tho 
heart  away  from  the  world  and  from  self  to  Him, 
our  only  Lord,  '  Whom  not  having  seen  you  love ; 
in  Whom  also  now,  though  you  see  Him  not,  you 
believe ;  and,  believing,  shall  rejoice  with  an  unspeak- 
able and  glorified  joy  ;'26  waiting  for  the  time  when 
the  veil  shall  be  taken  away,  and  you  shall  see  Him 
face  to  face. 

»  St.  John  xvi.  16.  »  1  St.  Peter  i.  8. 


VII. 

THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS:. 

In  the  Redemptorist  Church,  Clapham,  on  the  Feast  of  the  Saint, 
1864. 


TO  THE  REV.  THE  REDEMPTORIST  FATHERS 
OF  ST.  MARY'S,  CLAPHAM. 


REV.  AND  DEAR  FATHERS, 

Having  obeyed  your  desire,  I  publicly  thro-w- 
on you  all  the  blame  of  publishing  the  following  pages, 
•which  appear  to  me  not  to  be  worthy  of  it.  Neverthe- 
less, it  gives  me  the  opportunity  of  expressing  my  heartfelt 
gratitude,  and,  I  may  say,  my  filial  love,  to  your  great 
Saint.  During  the  happy  years  I  spent  in  Rome,  his 
larger  Theology  was  the  text  I  daily  studied ;  and  I  have 
ever  looked  upon  him  as  a  witness  raised  up  by  God 
against  the  rigorism,  the  laxity,  the  formalism,  and  the 
pharisaism  of  this  critical  and  I  fear,  in  spiritual  science, 
this  superficial  age. 

Let  me  add  also,  that  there  is  a  fact  in  the  life  of 
St.  Alphonsus,  which  makes  him  and  his  sons  dear  to  us 
and  to  our  house.^  I  read  in  his  Life,  that  daily  at  table 
with  his  household,  'he  took  care  to  give  food  for  the 
soul  also  ;  each  one  read  in  turn.  It  was  generally  from 
the  Life  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo.'1  I  hope  it  is  by  a  sort 
of  instinct  that  we  have  just  ended  reading,  for  the  third 
time,  the  Life  of  St.  Alphonsus ;  and  I  trust  that  this  may 
be  a  pledge  of  union  in  heart  and  in  spirit,  and  of  the  per- 
petuity of  the  same  offices  of  mutual  charity  which  have 
subsisted  between  us  for  so  many  years.  Commending  my- 
self to  your  prayers  and  the  intercession  of  St.  Alphonsus, 
I  beg  you  to  believe  me,  Rev.  and  dear  Fathers, 
Your  affectionate  servant  in  Jesus  Christ, 

HENRY  EDWARD  MANNING. 
Bayswater,  Feast  of  St.  Alphonsus,  1864. 

1  Life,  vol.  ii.  p.  320. 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 


He  will  convince  tlie  world  of  sin.  ST.  JOHN  xvi.  8. 

SUCH  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  by  the  piercing 
and  overwhelming  light  of  His  presence  to  show  to 
the  world  its  own  sinfulness,  and  to  convict  it  of  its 
guilt  before  God.  The  world  in  sin  knew  not  its 
own  sin.  'Because  it  liked  not' — that  is,  had  no 
will  or  desire — '  to  have  God  in  its  knowledge,  God 
delivered  it  up  to  a  reprobate  sense.'1  In  the  be- 
ginning the  light  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  the  intel- 
ligence of  man,  revealed  the  perfections  of  God ;  and 
in  that  light  man^knew  himself,  and  the  law  of  sanct- 
ity written  upon  his  heart.  But  when  he  sinned,  his 
heart  was  darkened.  The  light  of  the  divine  perfec- 
tions of  purity,  justice,  and  truth  faded  away;  and 
the  outline  of  the  divine  law  being  effaced,  the  con- 
sciousness of  sin  was  lost.  As  in  the  darkness  all 
colours  and  forms  are  confounded,  and  can  be  no 
»  Rom.  i.  28. 


200  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

more  distinguished ;  so  when  sin  had  darkened  the 
world,  sin  itself,  in  all  its  contradictions  of  the  di- 
vine nature,  passed  from  the  sight  and  from  the 
consciousness  of  the  sinful.  Certain  great  outlines, 
which  the  lingering  light  of  nature  ever  manifests, 
still  remained ;  *  so  that  they  were  inexcusable ;'  but 
the  divine  will  and  the  divine  law,  in  its  breadth 
and  purity,  was  hidden  in  the  same  darkness  which 
veiled  from  the  soul  of  man  the  perfections  of  God. 

And  yet,  in  the  darkness  of  the  world  there  was 
still  a  line  of  light,  a  thread  of  supernatural  illumi- 
nation, faint  but  clear,  which,  to  the  patriarchs  and 
saints  and  penitents  of  the  old  law,  revealed  again 
the  great  outline  of  the  sanctity  of  God,  and  thereby 
the  sinfulness  of  their  own  nature.  But  this  cast 
only  a  feeble  light  on  either  side,  and  did  not  pene- 
trate the  nations  of  the  world. 

And  when  this  narrow  stream  of  light  spread  into 
the  revelation  of  God's  law  to  Israel,  it  was  still 
faint ;  and  the  first  full  light  of  sanctity  which  fell 
upon  the  world  came  from  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  it  was  not  His  office  to  convince  the  world  of 
sin.  He  came  to  die  for  it,  and  to  ascend  to  His 
kingdom.  It  was  to  the  Holy  Ghost  that  the  office 
of  illuminating  and  convincing  the  world  was  com- 
mitted.- And  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  He  came  to 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS.  201 

shed  abroad  upon  the  world  the  light  of  the  revela- 
tion of  God.  The  unity,  the  personality,  the  spiritu- 
ality, the  purity,  the  truth,  the  justice  of  God  were 
revealed  to  the  heart  of  man ;  and  in  this  light  of 
the  divine  perfections  hoth  sanctity  and  sin  were 
perceived  and  understood.  The  world  was  convicted 
of  its  own  sins  and  stains  in  the  light  of  the  presence 
of  God ;  not  only  judicially  convicted,  but  convinced 
in  its  reason  and  conscience  of  the  sins  of  which  it 
was  guilty  in  His  sight.  The  coming  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  as  the  rising  of  the  sun  -upon  a  world 
which  sat  in  darkness.  In  His  light  all  became 
visible ;  not  the  greater  sins  alone,  but  the  least,  the 
most  subtil  and  the  most  secret,  in  the  illumination 
of  the  knowledge  of  God  which  penetrates  the  con- 
science. 

And  this  work  of  convincing  the  world  of  sin 
He  accomplished  first  by  the  Apostles,  Avhom  He 
fashioned  and  filled  with  light  as  the  instruments 
of  His  will.  The  same  work  He  perpetually  ac- 
complishes by  the  pastors  who  descend  from  them. 
The  Church  is  God's  witness  against  the  sin  of  the 
world ;  and  to  it  He  has  committed  two  great  instru- 
ments or  documents  of  divine  evidence  and  light,  by 
which  to  convince  mankind  of  sin.  The  first  is  the 
science  or  knowledge  of  God  and  of  His  operations, 


202  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

or,  as  we  call  it,  dogmatic  theology — that  is,  the 
faith,  with  its  scientific  elucidation,  traced  out  to  its 
circumference ;  the  other,  the  science  of  the  will  or 
law  of  God  in  its  commandments,  precepts,  and  coun- 
sels, or,  as  it  is  called,  moral  theology,  or  the  science 
of  sanctity  and  of  sin.  These  two  documents  of  the 
divine  truth  and  will  are  committed  to  the  custody 
of  the  Church,  through  which  the  Holy  Ghost,  by 
His  perpetual  guidance,  teaches  and  convinces  the 
world.  And  to  this  end  He  first  creates  for  Him- 
self His  messengers  and  His  witnesses,  the  pastors 
and  the  Saints  of  the  Church.  Upon  them  He  first 
works  by  the  infusion  of  His  light  and  sanctity ;  and 
by  them  He  works  afterwards  upon  the  world. 

And  this  brings  me  naturally  to  the  subject  of 
to-day — to  the  great  Saint  and  servant  of  God  wl  om 
we  commemorate.  He  was  a  singular  exampla  of 
this  divine  work,  both  in  himself  and  in  others.  He 
was  first,  in  an  eminent  degree,  a  creation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  supernatural  light  and  sanctity ;  then 
a  witness  for  God,  and  an  instrument  of  conviction 
and  sanctification  to  the  souls  of  men. 

It  is  in  this  respect  I  would  endeavour  to  speak 
of  him.  But  it  is  a  hard  task  to  speak  of  him  before 
his  sons,  to  whom  his  mind  and  spirit— I  may  say 
his  voice  and  presence — are  household  truths,  and, 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS.  203 

as  it  were,  a  daily  and  hourly  consciousness.  Still, 
what  I  can  I  will  do.  I  will  therefore  endeavour  to 
trace  out  the  perfections  wrought  in  St.  Alphonsus 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  fit  him  for  the  work  of  con- 
vincing the  world  of  sin. 

1.  The  first  and  eminent  grace  bestowed  upon 
him  for  this  end  was  his  own  personal  freedom  from 
sin.  They  who  testify  against  sin  must  needs  know 
it;  but  there  are  two  ways  of  knowing  sin.  There 
is  the  knowledge  of  the  sinless :  such  as  the  know- 
ledge which  Jesus  had  of  sin ;  of  its  deformity,  its 
baseness,  its  deadliness,  its  deceitfulness ;  of  all  that 
sin  is  and  does,  save  only  the  guilt,  which  by  per- 
sonal experience  the  sinless  Son  of  God  could  not 
know.  There  is  another  kind  of  knowledge  of  sin, 
which  comes  by  sinning.  And  this  the  world  preaches 
as  the  knowledge  necessary  for  those  who  would  save 
others  from  sin.  This  was  the  moral  theology  of 
Satan  in  Paradise  :  '  God  doth  know,  that  in  what 
day  soever  you  shall  eat  thereof,  your  eyes  shall  be 
opened,  and  you  shall  be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and 
evil.'2 

The  farther  removed  from  sin,  the  more  power 
the  servants  of  God  have  over  it.  The  nearer  to  it, 
the  more  power  it  has  over  them.  To  be  freo  from 
*  Gen.  ill.  5. 


204  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

it,  is  the  chief  condition  of  convincing  and  of  con- 
verting the  world. 

Now,  St.  Alphonsus  was  in  a  singular  manner 
and  degree  preserved  from  sin,  from  his  first  con- 
sciousness in  childhood  to  the  end  of  a  life  of  ninety 
years. 

In  the  Information  laid  before  the  Holy  See  for 
the  judicial  process  of  his  canonisation,  it  is  declared, 
that  '  the  stole  of  innocence  which  he  received  in 
baptism  he  returned  to  his  Creator  without  a  spot.'3 
Again,  in  the  office  which  we  have  recited  on  this 
festival,  it  is  declared  that  he  had  '  a  wonderful  inno- 
cence of  life,  which  he  never  sullied  by  a  stain  of 
mortal  sin.'  And  his  confessors,  after  his  death, 
declared  their  belief  that  he  had  never  committed  a 
deliberate  venial  sin.  To  the  end  of  his  life  Alphon- 
sus used  bitterly  to  lament  what  he  called  his  '  great 
sins.'  And  these  were  chiefly  three.  First,  a  dis- 
respectful word  spoken  to  his  father  when  he  was 
grown  to  man's  estate,  and  already  in  the  profession 
of  the  law,  at  a  time  of  life  when  sons  believe  them- 
selves to  be  free,  and  less  dependent  on  a  father's 
will.  For  this  fault  he  received  from  his  father, 

3  '  Innocentiae  stola  in  baptismo  accepta  Candida  Creator!  red- 
dita.'  Informatio  super  virtutibus  Yen.  Servi  Dei  Alphonsi  de 
Ligorio.  Romae,  1806.  '  Miram  vitse  innocentiam,  quam  nunquam 
ulla  lethal!  labe  foadavit.'  Officium  de  Festo  S.  Alpli. 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS.  205 

before  a  numerous  company,  the  chastisement  of  a 
blow.  He  west  to  liis  room,  and  spent  hours  kneel- 
ing in  tears  and  prayer;  and  afterwards,  on  his 
knees,  asked  his  father's  forgiveness.  The  second 
was,  that  for  a  time  he  fell  into  a  comparative  luke- 
warmness,  during  which  he  went  to  theatres,  though, 
as  he  said,  he  did  not  remember  committing  there 
any  deliberate  sin.  Yet  these  he  lamented  to  the 
end  of  his  life.  Lastly,  when  he  had  failed  as  an 
advocate  in  some  law-suit,  he  fell  into  an  excess  of 
sadness  and  dejection,  which  he  traced  to  his  self- 
love,  and  to  the  wound  of  disappointed  vanity.  If 
such  sins  showed  prominently  upon  his  life  of  ninety 
years,  it  must  indeed  have  been  white  and  resplend- 
ent to  give  them  such  relief. 

Alphonsus,  like  St.  Augustine,  had  a  holy  mother, 
to  whom  he  traces  the  early  horror  he  had  for  sin, 
and  his  singular  preservation  from  it.  She  used  to 
inspire  him  with  a  hatred  and  a  fear  of  evil,  and  to 
take  him  with  her  to  confession  every  week.  She 
used  to  say,  'I  do  not  wish  to  be  the  mother  of 
children  who  are  condemned  to  eternal  death.'  He 
testifies  of  himself  in  words  of  beautiful  simplicity, 
at  the  end  of  his  long  and  perilous  life  of  labour 
and  responsibility:  'I  am  a  Bishop,  and  I  ought 
to  tell  the  truth.  I  do  not  remember  ever  having 


206  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHOXSTJS. 

told  a  deliberate  falsehood,  even  when  I  was  a 
child.'4 

2.  From  this  great  innocence  of  life  sprung  an- 
other perfection — his  hatred  of  sin.  This  is  always 
equal  to  the  purity  of  the  heart.  It  was  this  which 

0 

caused  such  incomprehensible  sorrow  in  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus  in  the  wilderness  and  in  the  garden. 
And  Alphonsus,  in  all  his  instincts,  abhorred  the 
presence  of  evil  with  a  supernatural  hatred.  He  was 
wont  to  say:  'My  God,  grant  that  I  may  die  rather 
than  offend  Thee.'  *  Sin  is  the  only  evil  of  which  we 
need  be  afraid.'  '  No  sin,  however  slight,  is  a  trifling 
evil.'  To  hinder  sin  for  a  day  was  enough  to  set  him 
in  activity.  "When  he  heard  of  any  scandal,  he  never 
delayed  a  moment.  He  would  take  neither  food  nor 
rest  till  it  was  corrected.  Often  in  such  times  he 
took  no  food  till  evening.  '  Things  of  this  sort,'  he 
said,  '  admit  of  no  delays.  It  is  an  offence  against 
God ;  and  if  there  were  but  one  single  sin,  we  are 
bound  to  prevent  it.' 

His  only  fear  for  the  Congregation  he  had  founded 
was,  lest  any  sin  should  enter  into  it.  All  crosses 
and  persecutions  from  without — of  which  he  had  a 

4  When  some  objector  invited  him  to  change  a  statement  in 
Ms  Moral  Theology,  he  said :  '  It  would  l>e  to  make  me  tell  an 
untruth.  I  would  rather  have  my  head  cut  off  than  tell  a  lie.'  Life 
of  St.  AJphonsus,  vol.  iv.  p.  238. 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHOXSUS.  207 

multitude — were  as  nothing.  He  bad  no  fear  of 
them.  They  could  not  touch  the  sanctity  of  the  Con- 
gregation, and  therefore  could  not  reach  its  life.  The 
only  thing  he  feared  was  a  stain  of  sin ;  and  so  far 
did  he  carry  this,  that  when  some  powerful  person  of 
the  world,  in  Naples,  would  have  befriended  the  Con- 
gregation, Alphonsus  would  not  permit  it,  because 
the  private  life  of  that  person  was  sinful.  He  ans- 
wered, '  I  will  never  do  such  a  thing ;  let ,  this  Con- 
gregation be  destroyed,  rather  than  become  the  occa- 
sion for  even  the  shadow  of  any  sin.'  This  hatred  of 
sin  breathes  through  all  his  writings  and  preaching. 
In  giving  instructions  as  to  a  sermon  which  was  to 
be  preached  on  the  Festival  of  the  Holy  Cross,  he 
said  :  '  Say  something,  of  course,  about  the  Cross, 
but  the  substance  must  be  about  blasphemy,  hatred, 
impurity,  occasions  of  sin,  and  bad  confessions.'  And 
again,  speaking  of  the  Feast  of  St.  Joseph,  he  said : 
'  Let  St.  Joseph  be  praised ;  but  I  wish  sin  to  be  ex- 
tirpated, that  God  may  not  be  offended.' 

3.  From  this  hatred  of  sin  sprang  his  zeal  against 
it.  This  was  the  motive  of  his  long  life  ;  to  drive  sin 
out  of  the  heart  of  man,  out  of  the  creation  of  God. 
But  in  this  he  began  with  himself.  He  was  not  like 
the  pharisaic  world,  which  drinks  down  its  own  sin 
like  water,  and  is  indignant,  against  the  sins  of  its 


208  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

neighbour.  Alphonsus  began  with  himself,  with  pen- 
ances so  severe  that  he  was  compared  to  St.  Peter  of 
Alcantara.  Innocent  as  he  had  been  from  his  in- 
fancy, yet  he  inflicted  on  himself  penances  which 
to  us  seem  excessive  and  intolerable.  Fasts,  disci- 
plines,5 sleeping  on  the  ground,  uneasy  postures,  bit- 
ter herbs  in  his  food — and  all  these  persevered  in, 
without  relaxation,  until  the  failure  of  life  and  its 
powers — were  his  habitual  chastisement  of  self. 

He  was  most  exact  in  the  custody  of  his  senses. 
Even  to  his  old  age,  he  would  walk  along  the  streets 
with  his  eyes  cast  down  to  the  ground,  lest  anything 
should  enter  in  and  stain  his  soul.  The  vigilance 
with  which  he  maintained  these  precautions  would 
be  judged  extreme,  not  only  by  the  world,  but  also 
by  many  who  have  no  will  indeed  to  sin,  but  have 
not  the  same  instincts  of  sanctity  as  Alphonsus. 

Another  example  of  his  zeal  against  sin,  is  his 
industry  in  study.  It  was  to  drive  sin  out  of  the 
world  by  the  most  Precious  Blood,  and  by  the  guid- 
ance of  His  divine  law,  that  Alphonsus  spent  a  long 
life  in  the  study  of  moral  theology.  That  the  holy 
law  of  God  might  be  more  perfectly  obeyed,  and  all 
that  is  contrary  to  it  might  be  rooted  out  of  the 
hearts  of  men ;  for  this  he  went  through  a  toil  hardly 
•  Vol.  ii.  p.  310. 


THE  MISSION  OP  ST.  ALPHONSUS.  209 

surpassed  among  the  Saints  of  God.  Whensoever, 
in  the  exposition  of  the  law  of  God,  and  its  applica- 
tion to  the  details  of  human  life  and  action,  he  had 
any  doubt,  he  would  pray  and  wait  for  weeks  and  even 
for  months.  He  would  also  write  to  Naples,  to  Rome, 
and,  above  all,  to  the  Sacred  Congregations.  Only 
a  long  life,  like  that  of  St.  Alphonsus,  could  have 
sufficed  for  the  work  he  did.  He  not  only  expounded 
the  commandments,  the  precepts,  and  the  counsels 
of  God,  but  he  examined  all  that  had  been  said  by 
others  upon  them.  The  works  of  St.  Alphonsus  are, 
I  may  say,  a  summary  -of  moral  theology,  as  the 
great  work  of  St.  Thomas  is  of  dogmatic ;  and  to. 
compile  them,  he  faithfully  and  laboriously  consulted 
the  theologians  who  had  gone  before  him.  Nearly 
eight  hundred  theologians6  were  examined  or  con- 
sulted.7 The  minute,  laborious,  conscientious  in- 

•  Life,  vol.  ii.  p.  53-4.  Hia  work  on  Moral  Theology  is  well  de- 
scribed by  his  biographer :  '  It  is  but  an  extract  from  the  ecclesi- 
astical (i.e.  divine)  and  civil  laws.  Where  their  foundations  were 
wanting,  he  adopted  the  doctrine  of  St.  Thomas,  and  supplied  the 
remainder  by  the  authority  of  theologians  generally  approved.' 
St.  Alphon^us  therefore  acts  as  an  expositor  chiefly  of  others, 
and  of  the  general  judgments  of  a  multitude  of  writers,  weighed, 
analysed,  and  expressed  with  great  patience,  and  exactness  both 
of  moral  perception  and  of  spiritual  discernment. 

T  F.  Heilig,  in  his  edition  of  St.  Alphonsus  published  at  Malines, 
gives  the  authors  quoted  by  St.  Alphonsus  as  744,  excluding  here- 
tical and  pagan  authors. 

F.  Haringer,  also  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Kedemptorists, 

P 


210  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

dustry  required  for  such  a  task  is  not  exceeded  by 
any  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  It  was  not,  there- 
fore, without  cause,  or  with  the  mere  ordinary  con- 
fidence of  an  upright  mind,  that  he  said  :  '  As  to  the 
sentiments  I  have  advanced  in  my  work,  I  have  no 
reason  to  doubt  the  consequences  of  the  account  I 
must  render  to  God.'8 

The  -same  zeal  against  sin  he  extended  to  his 
dealings,  above  all,  with  priests.  What,  reverend 
fathers,  is  the  Congregation  of  our  most  holy  Re- 
deemer but  this  burning  zeal  against  sin,  incorpo- 
rated and  made  perpetual,  in  the  Church  of  God  ? 
Alphonsus  dealt  with  you  as  his  divine  Master  dealt 
with  His  disciples  :  '  For  them  do  I  sanctify  Myself; 


published  a  later  edition  of  the  Theology  of  St.  Alphonsns,  at 
Ratisbonne,  in  1846,  and  gives  an  '  Index  auctorum  qui  a  S.  Al- 
phonso  in  sna  Theologia  Morali  et  in  dissertationibns  inoralibua 
citantur.'  Vol.  i.  cap.  iv.  Introductio  Editoris.  He  gives  761 
names  of  authors  quoted.  From  this  number  he  excludes  the 
anonymous  and  pagan  authors.  Cardinal  Yillecourt  has  just  pub- 
lished a  Life  of  St.  Alphonsus  in  French,  which  has  been  revised  by 
the  Redemptorist  Fathers  in  Rome.  His  Eminence  says  in  a  note 
to  vol.  iv.  p.  421,  'Dans  sa  Theologie  Morale  S.  Alphonse  cite 
prfis  de  huit  cent  auteurs.'  Of  those  whose  country  is  given,  about 
one-third  are  Italian.  St.  Alphonsus  cites  also  French,  German, 
Belgian,  Dutch,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Swiss,  Polish,  Greek,  Asiatic, 
English,  Scotch,  Irish,  African  writers,  and  one  American.  This 
gives  to  the  work  a  special  character  for  breadth  ;  as  representing 
his  own  final  judgment  indeed,  but  based  upon  the  mind  of  theo- 
logians of  all  Catholic  countries. 
•  Life,  vol.  ii.  p.  80. 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHOXSUS.  211 

that  they  also  may  be  sanctified  in  truth.'9  He  first 
rooted  sin  out  of  his  own  heart,  that  he  might  then 
root  it  out  of  yours ;  and  that  by  you  he  might  pursue 
it  and  destroy  it  from  the  souls  of  men.  This  is  the 
work  for  which  you  have  received  such  graces  from 
the  Redeemer  of  men,  Whose  name  you  bear.  Zeal 
against  sin,  uncompromising,  unrelaxing,  with  tender- 
ness to  the  sinful,  but  inflexibility  against  evil  in  all 
its  forms  and  disguises,  is  your  mission,  and  the  end 
for  which  you  exist. 

Such  for  thirty  years  was  the  work  of  Alphonsus, 
surrounded  by  his  spiritual  sons,  until  he  was  com- 
pelled in  obedience  to  bear  the  episcopal  office. 

As  Bishop,  the  same  zeal  was  manifest  in  every 
action.  He  would  ordain  no  man  of  whose  fitness 
he  had  not  assured  himself  by  strict  examination. 
The  subjects  of  other  Bishops  and  the  members  of 
religious  orders,  who  came  for  ordination  with  testi- 
monials of  examination,  he  examined  again.  He 
used  to  say,  '  I  do  not  doubt  the  diligence  of  your 
superiors,  nor  your  fitness ;  but  if  I  am  to  ordain 
you,  I  must  know  it  myself.'  No  respect  of  person 
would  ever  make  him  swerve  from  this,  or  lay  hands 
suddenly  on  any  man. 

So  likewise,  in  bestowing  benefices,  it  often  hap- 
•  St.  John  xvii.  19. 


212  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

pened  that  rich,  noble,  powerful  patrons  interceded 
with  him  for  their  dependents,  or  nominated  them 
for  preferment.  Alphonsus  would  admit  none  of 
them  until  he  ascertained  their  fitness.  Many  he 
would  never  admit,  because  the  proof  of  their  fitness 
was  wanting.  He  withstood  the  highest  personages 
in  the  kingdom  in  this  matter,  with  a  boldness  and 
freedom  of  speech  which  he  always  followed  up  by  an 
inflexible  refusal. 

To  give  any  idea  of  his  zeal  for  the  sanctification 
of  his  priests  would  be  to  transcribe  the  history  of 
his  Episcopate.  Towards  them  he  was  in  every  sense 
a  pastor  and  a  father,  a  friend  and  a  guide,  to  whom 
they  could  turn  in  every  doubt  and  danger  of  their 
life.  There  was  no  one  so  near  to  their  hearts, 
none  to  whom  their  hearts  were  so  attracted,  none 
to  whom  they  lay  so  freely  open.  He  governed  them 
by  loving  them,  and  by  drawing  them  to  love  him 
again.  It  was  in  this  way  that  his  mind  and  spirit 
insensibly,  but  irresistibly,  diffused  itself  throughout 
the  clergy  of  his  diocese. 

And  yet  his  discipline  over  them  was  searching 
and  exact,  extending  not  only  to  their  duties,  but  to 
their  relaxations,  and  to  the  minutest  points  of  their 
life.  A  priest  is  a  priest  always  and  in  every,  place ; 
the  spirit  of  his  priesthood  must  penetrate  also  into 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHOX3US.  213 

bis  recreations,  and  follow  him  wheresoever  he  may 
be.  In  the  diocese  of  St.  Agatha  it  was  suspension 
ipso  facto  for  any  one  in  holy  orders  to  play  in  public 
places  '  at  games  of  chance,  such  as  cards,  dice,  or 
suchlike.'10  He  forbade  acting  in  theatrical  repre- 
sentations, even  if  the  piece  were  a  sacred  one,  and 
it  were  done  in  a  private  house,  under  pain  of  sus- 
pension if  the  cleric  were  in  holy  orders,  and  of  dis- 
ability to  receive  them  if  he  were  still  in  minor 
orders. 

The  same  vigilance  he  extended  with  an  especial 
exactness  to  his  seminary.  He  was  wont  to  say: 
'  Many  a  Bishop  will  be  lost  eternally  because  of  his 
seminary.'11  The  internal  discipline  he  administered 
with  such  zeal  and  minuteness,  that  two  Bishops 
who  visited  it  said :  .'  Mind  your  Bishop ;  for  you 
have  got  another  St.  Charles.'12  St.  Alphonsus  knew, 
not  only  that  if  in  the  seminary  or  seed-plot  of  the 
priesthood  any  sin,  or  laxity,  or  worldliness  should 
enter,  it  would  grow  up  and  spread,  as  a  moral  pes- 
tilence, over  the  whole  diocese,  but  that  if  the  mind 
and  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  were  not  formed  in  the 
rising  priesthood,  if  they  were  lukewarm,  or  lovers  of 
self  instead  of  lovers  of  souls,  if  they  were  blameless 
themselves,  and  yet  without  a  hatred  and  a  zeal 
l«  Vol.  iii.  p.  72.  »  Ib.  p.  95.  »  Ib.  vol.  ii.  p.  72,  353. 


214  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

against  sin,  the  work  of  souls  would  not  be  done; 
sin  would  not  be  pursued  and  destroyed,  and  sinners 
would  not  be  saved.  He  therefore  used  to  call  his 
seminary  '  the  apple  of  his  eye,  the  jewel  of  his 
diocese.'  Nothing  seemed  too  much  if  it  related  to 
the  young  clergy.  'All  my  clergy  are  my  crown,' 
he  said ;  '  but  I  depend  most  on  the  seminary  to 
cultivate  and  to  make  morality  to  reign  throughout 
the  diocese.'13 

I  need  hardly  attempt  to  show  to  what  labour 
his  zeal  against  sin  prompted  him  in  the  pastoral 
care  of  his  people.  His  first  act  on  entering  the 
diocese  was  to  give  a  Mission,  beginning  at  the 
cathedral  church,  then  in  all  the  towns  of  his 
diocese,  followed  by  the  canonical  visit,  which  he 
held  punctually  and  exactly  eyery  two  years.  His 
knowledge  of  the  state  of  his  diocese  was  such,  that 
it  used  to  be  said,  that  either  an  angel  or  a  devil 
used  to  tell  him  of  the  sins  and  scandals  which 
were  committed.  Even  when  he  was  bedridden,  he 
would  often  know  by  daybreak  the  scandals  that  had 
been  committed  in  the  night,  and  the  sins  of  those 
that  were  at  a  distance.  Instantly  he  would  send 
for  the  offenders.  Until  he  had  done  so,  he  could 
have  no  rest.  His  attendants  sometimes  were  too  slow 
11  Life,  vol.  ii.  p.  362. 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS.  215 

for  him.  He  used  to  say :  '  When  a  sin  against 
God  is  in  question,  we  ought  to  leave  everything  to 
put  a  stop  to  it.'  When  he  spoke  of  any  scandal, 
he  would  say :  '  This  is  a  thorn  piercing  my  heart.' 
In  his  Life  we  are  told,  '  it  is  incredible  how  many 
sins  he  prevented,  how  many  scandals  he  extirpated. 
Volumes  would  not  tell  all.' 

The  perpetual  burden  of  his  preaching  was  against 
sin.  Certainly,  the  love  and  the  passion  of  Jesus, 
the  glories  and  the  tenderness  of  our  Immaculate 
Mother,  were  abundantly  in  his  mouth,  as  his  writ- 
ings bear  witness ;  but  we  are  told  that,  like  as  St. 
John  in  his  last  years  went  on  ever  repeating,  almost 
to  weariness:  'Little  children,  love  one  another,'  so 
Alphonsus  was  always  saying,  'My  children,  cease 
from  sin ;  my  children,  cease  from  sin.' 

But  this  zeal  against  sin  was  tempered  by  an 
exceeding  love  of  sinners.  In  this  he  followed  closely 
the  words  of  our  divine  Lord :  '  I  came  not  to  call 
the  just,  but  sinners  to  penance.'  '  They  who  are  in 
health  need  not  the  physician,  but  they  that  are 
sick.'  '  I  was  not  sent  but  to  the  sheep  that  are 
lost  of  the  house  of  Israel.'  Alphonsus  chose  for 
himself  the  worst  sinners,  and  desired  his  sons 
to  occupy  themselves  about  the  conversion  of  the 
most  abandoned.  It  would  seem  as  if  he  regarded 


216  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

them  as  the  strongholds  of  the  enemy;  that  if 
these  keys  of  the  power  of  Satan  could  be  taken,  his 
kingdom  would  be  destroyed.  "We  find  therefore 
that  he  was  surrounded  by  the  lowest  and  most 
desperate  of  the  populations  where  he  preached. 
He  had  a  special  attraction  for  them,  the  cause  of 
which  is  evident  —  his  singular  benignity  of  heart. 
As  he  said,  'It  is  not  difficult  to  say  to  a  sinner: 
Get  you  gone ;  you  are  lost ;  I  will  not  absolve  you  : 
but  if  we  remember  that  such  a  soul  was  bought 
by  the  Precious  Blood,  we  shall  be  horrified  at  such 
a  way  of  dealing  with  it.'  When  he  heard  of  the 
conversion  of  a  soul,  he  would  weep  for  joy.  He 
spent  a  great  part  of  his  revenues  in  assisting  the 
penitent,  or  the  innocent;  whose  poverty  exposed 
them  to  danger ;  so  that  he  was  insolently  reproached 
for  it  by  some  one,  who  said,  that  '  one  must  be  a 
sinner  to  receive  assistance  from  him.'  He  answered  : 
*  I  wish  to  assist  everybody ;  but  I  must  begin  with 
those  that  are  in  sin.'  When  he  was  told  that  he 
was  deceived,  he  said  :  *  It  matters  little,  if  I  can 
thwart  the  plans  of  the  devil.  It  is  no  little  gain  to 
hinder  sin  even  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.'  Again, 
he  said :  '  If  I  abandon  these  sinners,  perhaps  they 
may  fall  into  despair.  If  they  commit  one  mortal 
sin  less,  is  it  not  for  the  glory  of  God  ?' 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHOXSUS.  217 

And  this  benignity  with  sinners  manifested  it- 
self especially  in  two  things;  first,  in  the  facility 
with  which  he  gave  absolution,  and  secondly,  in  tho 
lightness  and  sweetness  of  the  penance  he  imposed 
upon  them.  He  made  the  Sacrament  of  Penance 
an  object  not  only  of  faith  but  of  love  ;  not  a  carni- 
ficina  conscientitz,  a  torture  of  the  conscience,  but  a 
rest,  a  solace,  and  a  joy.  He  used  to  say :  '  I  am 
ready  to  give  my  blood  and  my  life  for  them ;  and  if 
they  are  sincere,  I  will  help  them,  though  I  go  with- 
out my  food.'  His  Moral  Theology  is  studiously 
designed  to  make  the  way  of  absolution  open,  easy, 
and  accessible.  In  the  spirit  of  the  divine  Lord, 
who  forgave  all  who  had  faith  to  come  to  Him,  not 
exacting  of  them  more  than  the  least  of  that  which 
His  sanctity  inflexibly  required;  so  St.  Alphonsus 
drew  to  the  fountains  of  the  most  Precious  Blood 
all  who  had  need,  the  most  stained,  hardened,  and 
outcast,  exacting  of  them  the  least  which  the  Sacra- 
ment of  Penance  imposes  as  the  condition  of  our 
pardon. 

5.  Finally,  Alphonsus,  for  the  very  love  he  had 
to  sinners,  had  a  horror  of  the  occasions  of  sin.  He 
had  thoroughly  detected  the  deceit  by  which  Satan 
has  confounded  together  what  I  may  call  the  divine 
and  the  diabolical  rigorism.  The  rigorism  of  Satan 


218  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHOXSUS. 

comes  between  the  soul  of  the  sinner  and  its  ab- 
solution in  the  Precious  Blood.  The  rigorism  or 
loving  severity  of  the  Sacred  Heart  comes  between 
the  absolved  soul  and  the  occasions  of  sin  by  which 
it  has  fallen.  When  Alphonsus  heard  of  confessors 
who  made  the  way  of  absolution  narrow  and  pro- 
tracted, he  used  to  cry,  with  a  kind  of  anguish, 
'  0  poor  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ !'  But  after  absolu- 
tion, all  his  efforts,  by  way  of  counsel  and  command, 
were  used  to  keep  the  penitent  from  the  occasions 
of  falling  again.  To  some  who  account  Alphonsus 
lax,  his  precautions  against  sin  will  appear  rigorous ; 
so  inverted  and  misplaced  are  the  ideas  of  many. 
It  is  a  spurious  and  miserable  benignity  which  per- 
mits a  penitent  to  go  again  into  the  midst  of  the 
same  voluntary  occasions  by  which  he  has  already 
fallen ;  to  stain  once  more  the  white  stole  of  his  ab- 
solution, and  to  forfeit  the  grace  which  has  been  so 
hardly  regained.  I  cannot  give  even  an  outline  of 
his  counsels  against  the  occasions  of  sin.  They  run 
through  all  his  works.  No  subject  occurs  so  habitu- 
ally or  so  largely  in  all  his  writings  on  the  spiritual 
life.  The  duty  of  breaking  with  persons,  and  inti- 
macies, trades,  and  professions,  by  which  men  have 
been  betrayed  into  sin,  returns  again  and  again. 
Alphonsus  wrote  a  treatise  upon  the  danger  of 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS.  219 

bad  books,  and  involved  himself  in  a  contest  with 
some  of  the  ministers  of  government  by  its  publica- 
tion. To  a  mind  illuminated  as  his,  the  havoc  made 
by  bad  books  was  evident  as  the  light.  The  great 
French  .Revolution,  and  the  infidelity  and  impurity 
of  the  Voltairian  school  were  then  just  beginning  to 
penetrate  into  Italy.  What  would  he  have  judged  of 
the  world  at  this  time,  and  of  this  country,  in  which 
the  plague  of  bad  books  covers  the  land  !  Evil  men, 
evil  lives,  evil  examples,  spread  a  moral  pestilence 
openly  and  powerfully;  but  nothing  spreads  false- 
hood and  evil  more  surely  and  deeply  than  a  bad 
book.  The  Sower  who  sowed  the  seed  of  the  king- 
dom ordained  that  His  Church,  by  its  living  voice 
and  its  writings,  should  cover  the  face  of  the  earth 
with  truth  and  purity.  The  infallible  voice  of  the 
Church,  and  the  inspired  and  uninspired  writings 
of  its  children,  have  spread  the  knowledge  of  God 
and  of  His  kingdom  throughout  the  world,  and  sus- 
tained it  to  this  day.  But  the  sower  had  no  sooner 
reached  the  end  of  the  furrow,  when  the  enemy  came, 
treading  in  his  footsteps,  and  sowing  upon  the  same 
soil  the  tares  and  the  poisons  of  falsehood  and  im- 
purity. A  bad  book  is  falsehood  and  sin  in  a  per- 
manent and  impersonal  form ;  all  the  more  danger- 
ous because  disguised,  and  tenacious  in  its  action 


220  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHOXSUS. 

upon  the  soul.  I  do  not  know  -which  is  the  more 
dangerous,  the  books  which  are  written  professedly 
against  Jesus  Christ,  His  Divinity,  His  Church,  and 
His  laws,  or  the  furtive,  and  stealthy,  and  serpentine 
literature  which  is  penetrated  through  and  through 
with  unbelief  and  passion,  false  principles,  immoral 
whispers,  and  inflaming  imaginations.  We  are  told 
that  an  index  expurgatorius  is  impossible  in  such 
a  country  as  this.  In  countries  where  the  unity  of 
the  faith  still  exists,  it  may  be  possible  to  restrain 
the  evil;  but  in  such  a  land  as  this,  where  liberty 
of  thought  and  speech,  oral  and  written,  have  run 
to  the  extreme  of  license,  it  is  no  longer  possible. 
Who  can  pull  up  the  weeds  in  a  wilderness  ?  A  man 
may  weed  a  garden ;  but  a  desert  must  be  left  to 
its  rankness.  Nevertheless,  the  index  expurgatorius 
may  be  transcribed  upon  the  delicate  and  enlight- 
ened conscience  of  those  who  love  purity  and  truth  ; 
and  the  zeal  of  Alphonsus  is  a  warning  to  fathers 
and  mothers,  and  to  all  who  love  our  divine  Lord, 
and  desire  the  sanctification  of  their  own  hearts. 

Like  as  Job  prayed  for  his  sons  while  they  were 
feasting,  lest  they  should  commit  sin,  so  he  did  not 
fear  likewise  to  watch  over  the  amusement  and  recre- 
ation of  his  people.  He  turned  a  company  of  actors 
out  of  his  diocese,  lest  they  should  corrupt  his  flock. 


THE  MISSION  OF  BT.  ALPHONSUS.  221 

He  restrained  to  the  utmost  of  his  power  halls, 
promiscuous  dancing,  masquing,  the  license  of  the 
carnival,  theatres,  private  theatricals,  and  the  like. 
Even  religious  feasts,  attended  hy  the  concourse  of 
multitudes,  he  regarded  with  suspicion.  He  was 
wont  to  say :  '  When  there  is  a  multitude,  the  occa- 
sion of  sin  will  not  be  wanting.'  '  Fire  and  straw 
do  not  do  well  together,  especially  when  the  devil 
blows  on  them.'14  I  quote  these  things,  because 
St.  Alphonsus  is  accused  of  laxity  by  none  more 
than  by  those  who  would  accuse  him  in  these  things 
of  rigorism.  But  such  was  the  estimate  of  them, 
which  a  pure  soul,  invested  with  its  baptismal  in- 
nocence, full  of  hatred  against  sin,  and  of  the  love 
of  sanctity,  deliberately  formed  and  maturely  acted 
upon  in  the  full  experience  of  life,  and  with  the 
grave  responsibilities  of  his  pastoral  charge.  And 
we  may  believe  that  his  instincts  and  his  percep- 
tions were  not  far  from  the  judgments  which  the 
pure  eyes  of  our  guardian  angels  form  as  they  ho- 
ver over  the  multitude,  who  throng  together  in  the 
crowds  of  worldly  amusement,  or  even  in  the  sanc- 
tuaries of  religious  excitement.  It  was  not  rigour, 
nor  scruple,  but  the  penetrating  intuition  of  a  soul 
full  of  zeal  against  sin,  and  altogether  on  fire  for  the 

14  Life,  vol.  iv.  p.  43-6. 


222  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPIIONSUS. 

salvation  of  souls,  which  made  him  jealous  for  the 
sanctification  of  his  flock.  No  wonder,  then,  that  at 
the  end  of  his  long  and  toilsome  life  he  was  over- 
heard, when  he  knew  not  that  any  ear  of  man  was 
near,  saying  :  '  Lord,  Thou  knowest  that  all  I  have 
thought,  said,  done,  and  written  has  been  for  souls 
and  for  Thee.' 

From  this  supernatural  hatred  and  zeal  against 
sin  two  consequences  flowed,  on  which  I  will  add  a 
few  words. 

1.  The  first  was,  his  great  power  over  souls.  It 
was  his  special  endowment  in  all  the  aspects  of  his 
life.  As  a  confessor,  he  spoke  with  such  horror  of 
sin,  that  the  most  hardened  sinner  could  not  resist  his 
words.  He  loved  the  confessional  as  the  chief  function 
of  his  priesthood,  the  deepest,  most  interior,  and  vital 
work  for  souls.  He  used  to  say,  a  priest  who  does  not 
love  the  confessional  does  not  love  souls.  He  was  the 
first  to  enter  it  in  the  morning,  and  the  last  to  leave 
it  at  night.  So  long  as  his  health  and  strength 
endured,  he  seemed  to  spend  his  life  in  the  confes- 
sional and  in  preaching.  His  way  of  dealing  with 
souls  will  be  best  expressed  in  his  own  words  :  '  The 
deeper  the  soul  is  plunged  in  sin,  the  more  we  must 
endeavour  by  kindness  to  pluck  it  from  the  arms  of 
Satan,  and  cast  it  into  the  arms  of  God.'  The  fewest 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS.  223 

words  from  him  had  a  supernatural  power  of  convic- 
tion. A  hardened  sinner,  who  had  poured  out  a 
terrible  history  of  sin,  with  every  sign  of  unconcern, 
was  roused  in  a  moment,  at  the  end  of  his  confes- 
sion, by  these  words :  '  My  child,  what  has  Jesus 
Christ  done  against  you?'  Such  was  his  power  of 
softening  the  most  hardened,  that  at  the  close  of  his 
life  St.  Alphonsus  one  day  revealed  that  he  did  not 
remember  ever  sending  away  a  sinner  without  ab- 
solving him. 

As  a  preacher  the  effect  of  his  words  was,  if  pos- 
sible, more  supernatural.  In  Amalfi  were  two  sub- 
urbs, inhabited  by  abandoned  women,  who  were  the 
pestilence  of  the  town.  St.  Alphonsus  gave  a  mission 
there.15  Every  one  of  them  was  brought  to  repent- 
ance ;  and  the  missionaries  who  visited  the  town 
some  years  after,  found  that  every  one  of  them  had 
persevered  in  her  repentance.  At  Nardo,  during  his 
preaching  in  the  church,  a  person  fell  dead  from  the 
grief  of  contrition ;  and  in  the  night  following,  three 
others  died.16  This  wonderful  power  over  the  con- 
sciences and  souls  of  men  came  from  the  energy  of 
his  simplicity.  He  abhorred  what  is  called  eloquence, 
and  counted  it  the  plague  of  the  Church,  and  the  sin 

»  Vol.  ii.  p.  92. 

"  Tannoid,  book  i.  c.  xvi.  Turin  edition. 


224  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

of  preachers.  When  he  heard  a  priest  preaching 
rhetorically,  he  used  to  say :  *  Poor  Jesus.'  And 
ambitious  preachers  he  called  '  the  enemies  of  Jesus 
Christ.'  Though  most  eloquent,  those  who  heard 
him  thought  not  of  him,  but  of  what  he  uttered.' 
They  were  as  unconscious  of  the  preacher's  elo- 
quence as  he  was  himself;  for  the  thought  of  God, 
of  sin,  and  of  judgment,  absorbed  both  him  and 
them. 

His  power  over  souls  as  a  Bishop  could  not  be 
expressed  without  writing  the  history  of  thirteen 
years ;  but  it  may,  in  the  fewest  words,  be  described 
by  three  testimonies  which  were  borne  to  him  while 
he  yet  lived.  An  official,  who  was  always  about  him, 
and  knew  all  his  works  and  his  labours,  said :  '  A 
hundred  Bishops  would  not  do  what  he  did  alone, 
notwithstanding  his  infirmities.'  Clement  XIV.,  in 
refusing  the  resignation  of  his  bishopric,  said  :  '  He 
can  govern  his  diocese  from  his  bed ;'  and  again : 
'  His  shadow  is  enough  to  govern  the  diocese.' 

As  a  theologian,  his  power  over  the  hearts  of  men 
has  been  ever  expanding.  While  he  was  yet  alive,  he 
did  more  than  any  other  to  destroy  and  to  root  out 
for  ever  the  two  opposite  plagues  of  Jansenism  and 
of  laxity,  and,  by  the  fervour  of  piety  which  he  in- 
fused into  moral  theology,  to  destroy  the  formalism 


THE  MISSION  OP  ST.  ALPHONSUS.  225 

» 

of  the  careless  and  mechanical.  And  this  power  has 
been  ever  extending  itself  from  nation  to  nation  and 
church  to  church,  from  diocese  to  diocese,  from  semi- 
nary to  seminary,  from  confessional  to  confessional. 
The  mind  of  Alphonsus,  and  the  benignity  of  his 
pastoral  love  of  souls,  has  entered  and  conquered 
in  every  Catholic  country,  and  at  this  day  reigns 
throughout  the  Church. 

And  he  reigns,  too,  as  a  patriarch  over  the  tribes 
of  his  spiritual  children.  In  his  lifetime  they  were 
comparatively  few,  and  his  last  days  were  full  of 
sorrow ;  but  now,  in  Italy,  in  Belgium,  in  Holland, 
in  France,  in  Germany,  in  England,  in  Ireland,  in 
America,  and  in  the  islands  of  the  West  Indies.,  he 
reigns  over  the  hearts  of  multitudes,  by  his  Rons 
and  his  sons'  sons,  who  are  the  object  of  their  vene- 
ration and  their  love. 

2.  The  other  consequence  of  his  ardent  zeal  against 
sins  is,  the  special  enmity  with  which  the  world  pur- 
sues his  name.  Surely  in  this  a  prophecy  is  fulfilled. 
'I  will  put  enmities  between  thee  and  the  woman, 
and  thy  seed  and  her  seed;'  for  who  is  more  conspi- 
cuously the  son  of  Mary  than  Alphonsus  ?  His  book 
'  The  Glories  of  Mary,'  which  unites  him  with  St. 
Bernard  and  St.  Bernardino  of  Sienna,  has  marked 
him  out  for  the  happiness  and  the  honour  of  sharing 

Q 


226  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

the  enmity  -which  is  levelled  against  the  Mother  of 
God.  The  world  will  not  endure  those  who  witness 
for  Jesus,  whom  it  crucified ;  nor  against  sin,  which 
it  loves ;  nor  for  sanctity,  which  it  hates.  In  every 
way  Alphonsus  is  marked  out  for  its  enmity.  How 
could  it  endure  the  presence  of  a  soul  full  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  —  all  illuminated,  to  know  the  sin  of 
the  world ;  all  inflamed  with  the  love  of  God,  to  he 
jealous  for  His  honour  ;  all  dilated  with  an  indignant 
contempt  of  the  world's  pretensions,  and  with  an  in- 
flexible and  fearless  zeal  against  the  world's  pride 
and  sin  ?  They  were  natural  antagonists.  They  are 
so  still. 

The  best  panegyric,  St.  Alphonsus  says,  is  to 
imitate  the  virtues  of  a  Saint;  and  the  lessons  he 
teaches  us  may  be  briefly  spoken.  The  festival  of  to- 
day may  teach  us  that  the  world  is  never  convinced 
of  its  sin  by  compromise,  but  only  by  the  contrast 
which  sanctity  opposes  to  sin.  This  lesson  is  to  be 
learned  indeed  from  all  the  servants  of  God,  but  in 
an  especial  manner  in  these  later  ages  from  three 
who  may  be  called  the  standard-bearers  in  the  war- 
fare of  the  Church  against  the  world :  St.  Ignatius, 
St.  Charles,  and  St.  Alphonsus.  Eeverend  Fathers, 
I  do  not  venture  to  speak  to  you,  but  to  your  flock, 
who  in  my  words  will  recognise  that  which  they  see 


THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS.  227 

in  you,  the  example  of  your  Saint  and  founder.  To 
them,  then,  I  would  say,  if  we  would  convince  the 
world  of  sin,  we  must  do  as  men  who  would  lift  a 
heavy  mass.  They  do  not  rest  upon  it.  So  long  as 
they  are  upon  it,  they  are  powerless.  As  soon  as  they 
are  detached  from  it,  their  power  revives.  They  find 
a  fulcrum  at  a  distance,  and  the  longer  the  lever  and 
the  farther  they  are,  the  greater  the  purchase  ob- 
tained. So  it  is  with  those  who  would  convince  the 
world  of  its  follies,  its  stains,  and  its  sins.  It  is  by 
contrast  and  by  separation,  not  pharisaical  separation, 
but  as  our  great  High  Priest,  who  was  '  innocent, 
undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners,'  that  you  must 
work  upon  the  reason  and  the  conscience  of  men. 
It  is  by  love  and  patience,  visible  sincerity  and  tender 
compassion,  that  you  must  work  upon  the  will  of  the 
sinful  and  the  worldling.  Do  not  hope  to  win  the 
world  by  courting  it.  Do  not  fear  to  lose  your  hold 
by  provoking  it.  Cast  in  your  lot  with  the  Saints 
who  have  renounced  it,  and  laboured  for  it ;  opposed 
it,  but  spent  themselves  for  its  redemption.  Be 
Christian,  Catholic,  and  Roman  in  the  fullest,  deep- 
est sense  of  these  three  titles  of  our  faith.  Be  un- 
worldly and  inflexible,  benign  and  gentle  as  Alphon- 
sus  was :  to  be  this,  try  to  live  as  he  lived,  in  union 
with  God,  in  the  fellowship  and  service  of  our  divine 


228  THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS. 

Lord  and  of  His  Immaculate  Mother.  Bear  your 
witness  for  the  sanctity  of  God  in  the  world  which  is 
around  you.  Fear  nothing  but  to  be  found  on  the 
world's  side,  when  He  who  redeemed  us  from  it  shall 
appear. 


vni. 

TRUTH  BEFOEE  PEACE: 

At  tho  Opening  of  St.  Godric's,  Durham,  1864. 


TO 

THE  RIGHT  KEY.  WILLIAM  IIOGAKTH,  D.D. 

BISHOP  OF  HEXHAM  AND  NEWCASTLE, 
AND 

TO  THE  KEVEKEND  THE  CLEEGY, 

THI8  SEEMON,  PUBLISHED  AT  THEIR  DESIEE, 

IS  BESPECTFULLY  INSCEIBED, 

VITH  THE  HOPE  AND  PRAYER  THAT  THE  LIGHT  OF  NORTHUMBRIA  MAY 
ONCE  1IOEE  SHINE  OVEB  ENGLAND  AS  BRIGHTLY  AS  OF  OLD. 


TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 


All  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord :  and  great  shall  he  the 
peace  of  thy  children.  ISAIAS  liv.  13. 

SUCH  was  the  promise  of  God  to  Jerusalem  in  the 
time  of  its  desolation.  '  0  poor  little  one,  tossed 
with  tempests,  without  all  comfort,  behold,  I  will  lay 
thy  stones  in  order,  and  will  lay  thy  foundations  with 
sapphires,  and  I  will  make  thy  bulwarks  of  jasper, 
and  thy  gates  of  graven  stones,  and  all  thy  borders  of 
desirable  stones.'  '  No  weapon  that  is  formed  against 
thee  shall  prosper :  and  every  tongue  that  resisteth 
thee  in  judgment,  thou  shalt  condemn.'1  The  Assyrian 
was  hovering  about  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  It  was 
menaced  and  despised  from  without,  and,  worse  than 
this,  it  was  torn  and  divided  within.  Contention  and 
blood,  sacrilege  and  sin,  stained  the  sanctuary  and 
the  streets  of  the  Holy  City.  But  a  time  of  consola- 
tion was  at  hand.  According  to  the  promise,  it  came 

i  Isaian  liv.  11, 12,  17. 


232  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

in  the  reign  of  peace  and  justice,  in  the   days  of 
Ezechias. 

But  this  was  no  more  than  a  type  and  a  promise 
of  things  to  come  hereafter — of  desolations  more  pro- 
found, and  of  consolations  more  enduring,  than  the 
transient  afflictions  and  restoration  of  any  earthly 
city.  It  foretold  the  day  when  the  Church  of  Israel, 
the  shadow  of  a  substance  yet  to  come,  should  be 
elevated  by  the  advent  of  the  Eedeemer,  and  should 
pass  into  the  true  and  only  Church  of  the  living 
God,  the  mystical  Body  of  His  Incarnate  Son.  '  And 
I  John  saw  the  holy  city,  the  new  Jerusalem,  coming 
down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride 
adorned  for  her  husband.  And  I  heard  a  great  voice 
from  the  throne,  saying :  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of 
God  with  men.  And  they  shall  be  His  people  :  and 
God  Himself  with  them  shall  be  their  God.  .  .  .  And 
he  took  me  up  in  spirit  to  a  great  and  high  moun- 
tain :  and  he  showed  me  the  holy  city  Jerusalem, 
coming  down  out  of  heaven  from  God,  having  the 
glory  of  God;  and  the  light  thereof  was  like  to  a  pre- 
cious stone,  as  it  were  to  a  jasper-stone,  as  crystal. 
And  it  had  a  wall  great  and  high,  having  twelve 
gates ;  and  in  the  gates  twelve  angels,  and  names 
written  thereon,  which  are  the  names  of  the  twelve 
tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel.  On  the  east,  three 


TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  233 

gates;  and  on  the  north,  three  gates;  and  on  the 
south,  three  gates ;  and  on  the  west,  three  gates. 
And  the  wall  of  the  city  had  twelve  foundations,  and 
in  them  the  twelve  names  of  the  twelve  Apostles  of 
the  Lamb.  And  he  that  spoke  with  me,  had  a  mea- 
sure of  a  golden  reed,  to  measure  the  city  and  the 
gates  thereof,  and  the  wall.  And  the  city  is  situate 
four-square,  and  the  length  thereof  is  as  great  as 
the  breadth.'2 

Such  is  the  true  fulfilment  of  the  words  of  Isaias 
— the  holy  Catholic  Church,  built  upon  the  Eock,  in 
all  the  splendour  and  beauty  of  its  heavenly  perfec- 
tions, four-square,  imperishable  in  its  life,  immutable 
in  its  illumination,  indissoluble  in  its  unity,  infal- 
lible in  its  voice.  And  because  it  is  replenished  by 
the  influx  of  light  from  its  divine  Head,  and  guided 
by  the  perpetual  assistance  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  the 
Church  is  first  taught  of  God,  and  is  then  the  organ 
of  His  voice  to  men.  Its  children  therefore  are  all 
taught  of  God,  and  their  peace  is  the  peace  of  God 
in  the  divine  unity  of  truth.  No  weapon  formed 
against  it  has  ever  prospered.  Ten  long  persecutions 
have  but  blunted  and  broken  the  weapons  of  the 
world.  No  tongue  has  ever  gainsayed  the  Church 
of  God  but  it  has  been  condemned.  False  apostles 

*  Apoc.  xxi.  2,  3,  10-16. 


234  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

have  come  in  a  long  succession  ;  but  they  have  been 
confounded,  and  have  gone  their  way.  The  accusers 
of  the  Church  have  been  found  liars.  The  reformers 
of  its  divine  purity  have  betrayed  their  own  corrup- 
tion ;  and  the  false  witnesses  who  have  slandered  it 
before  the  world,  by  their  manifold  contradictions 
have  confounded  and  put  each  other  to  shame. 

In  this  way  the  Church  has  always  been  verifying 
this  prophecy  of  desolation  and  consolation,  always 
tossed  by  tempest,  and  then  comforted ;  in  alternate 
storms  and  peace ;  but  the  peace  always  greater  than 
all  its  afflictions ;  for  the  affliction  is  only  for  a  time, 
but  the  peace  abides  for  ever. 

And  this  law  has  also  been  already  verified,  and 
will  again  be  verified,  in  England.  The  desolations 
which  are  upon  it  were  not  always,  nor  will  be  for 
ever.  Your  forefathers  are  example.  There  was  a 
time  when  northern  England  was  the  home  of  Saints. 
There  was  a  light  and  a  beauty  upon  its  hills  and  its 
wolds,  its  valleys  and  its  coasts.  Whitby  and  "Wear- 
mouth,  Lindisfarne  and  Hexham,  and  Finchal  and 
Durham,  are  dear  to  you,  because  the  names  of  St. 
Aidan,  St.  Hilda,  St.  Csedmon,  St.  Cuthbert,  and  St. 
Godric,  are  written  upon  them.  The  world  was  tu- 
multuous, indeed,  from  without,  in  those  days  ;  but 
the  heavenly  city  rested  on  the  face  of  Northumbria, 


TEUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  235 

and  great  was  the  peace  of  its  children.  The  king- 
doms of  Saxon  England  were  often  in  conflict,  war- 
ring upon  each  other;  but  the  Church  reigned,  in 
its  illumination  and  power,  over  the  souls  of  men. 
It  is  from  a  Saint  of  your  own  that  we  have  the  light 
to  see  the  face  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  people.  In  the 
darkness  of  history,  St.  Bede  shines  as  a  silver  star 
—bright,  but  all  alone — shedding  a  radiance  upon 
this  country.  In  his  light  we  see  a  people  dwelling 
in  unity,  because  they  were  one  in  faith.  There  were 
no  fragmentary  Christianities  in  those  days,  no  muti- 
lations of  the  perfect  outline  and  disk  of  faith.  The 
illumination  of  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  upon  the 
dwellings  of  the  people  of  God.  They  were  of  one 
mind,  in  the  one  indivisible  truth.  In  those  days 
Jesus  was  upon  every  altar,  in  the  rude  cathedral, 
the  silent  monastery,  the  humble  church  by  the  river 
and  by  the  sea.  The  presence  of  the  Incarnate  "Word, 
and  the  radiance  which  goes  out  from  Him,  pene- 
trated into  the  homes  and  the  hearts  of  men.  With 
Jesus  was  also  His  Immaculate  Mother.  Her  image 
and  her  name  were  dear  to  all ;  the  old  and  the  young 
called  her  Mother,  and  saluted  her  in  the  angel's 
words.  The  Church  had  much  to  suffer  from  with- 
out ;  but  in  those  days  of  early  faith  there  were  no 
contentions  of  Christians  banded  into  sects,  and,  in 


236  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

the  name  of  religion,  rending  asunder  the  unity  of 
truth  and  peace. 

There  was,  therefore,  no  spiritual  destitution ;  that 
is,  no  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  no  flock  scattered 
to  and  fro,  without  fold  and  pasture.  All  then  knew 
their  pastor's  voice,  and  the  faith  which  leads  to 
eternal  life.  Such  was  northern  England  in  those 
days,  when  the  holy  Catholic  and  Roman  Church 
spread  itself,  in  light  and  peace,  upon  its  kingdoms. 
The  world  was  rude  and  dark  enough,  but  Jesus 
reigned  in  the  unity  of  truth.  They  were  simple  and 
saintly  hearts  in  those  ages  of  childlike  faith.  All 
then  worshipped  at  one  altar,  and  gave  to  each  other 
the  kiss  of  peace  in  the  holy  Mass,  as  children  of  one 
heavenly  Father  and  of  the  Immaculate  Mother  of 
God. 

But  now  are  the  times  of  our  desolation.  The 
Church  is  reduced  to  a  remnant  in  the  midst  of  the 
land.  Christianity  outside  the  Catholic  Church  is 
morselled  into  fragments ;  the  presence  of  Jesus  is 
no  longer  upon  the  altar ;  the  old  sanctuaries  of  the 
Saints  are  ruined  and  trodden  down.  Mary  is  de- 
throned from  her  dignity  as  mother  and  as  queen, 
and  her  name  is  seldom  heard,  except  to  be  cast  out 
with  coldness,  perhaps  with  worse.  Contentions  are 
on  every  side,  multiplying  upon  every  article  of  the 


TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  237 

faith,  from  the  grace  of  Sacraments  to  the  Godhead 
of  Jesus,  the  inspiration  of  Scripture,  the  fact  of  reve- 
lation, the  existence  of  God.  And,  as  a  consequence 
of  all  this,  inevitable  and  just,  a  spiritual  destitution 
spreading  over  the  face  of  the  people ;  millions  of  the 
poor  of  Christ,  the  heirs  of  the  kingdom,  without  pas- 
tor, or  sacraments,  or  Christian  faith,  living  and  dying 
'  without  Christ,  and  without  God  in  this  world.' 

And  now  shall  I  ask,  why  was  all  this  ?  "Who 
brought  it  to  pass,  and  how  ?  If  I  were,  I  should 
have  to  re-open  old  wounds,  and  rekindle  old  fires 
now  dying  out,  if  not  extinct.  Why  should  we  call 
up  our  forefathers  to  answer  to  us  for  that  of  which 
they  have  already  given  an  account  before  the  eternal 
Judge  ?  And  why  add  to  our  divisions  now,  by  con- 
tending about  who  was  guilty  of  the  divisions  then  ? 
Is  it  not  better  to  ask  how  may  all  this  be  healed  ? 
Let  us,  if  we  can,  forget  the  past,  and  heal  the  pre- 
sent and  the  future.  And  certainly  there  are  at  this 
time  to  be  seen  the  harbingers  of  a  better  day.  There 
is  a  craving  for  unity  spreading  on  every  side;  a  pain- 
ful sense  that  division  is  the  source  of  our  desola- 
tions ;  a  desire  to  heal  them  by  a  return  to  the  peace 
of  those  days  when  men  were  of  one  faith  and  heart. 
I  take  this  as  the  augury  of  happier  times  to  come ; 
as  the  first  white  lights  which  steal  up  the  sky,  and 


TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

promise  the  brightness  and  warmth  of  noon.  The 
barriers  which  divide  men  seem  to  be  melting 
away ;  and  though  there  are  sharp  conflicts  and 
ringing  blows  still  to  be  heard,  a  better  wisdom  is 
pleading  with  men. 

The  way  to  unity  is  peace ;  but  there  can  be  no 
peace  in  a  constrained  or  artificial  unity,  by  tying 
together  discordant  minds  with  external  bonds,  the 
living  with  the  dead.  Peace,  indeed,  must  corne  first, 
and  unity  is  its  fruit.  But  before  peace  must  come 
truth.  '  All  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  God,' 
and  therefore  '  great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  chil- 
dren.' It  is  truth  that  generates  peace.  Peace  is  a 
benediction,  but  truth  is  vital.  He  that  seeks  peace 
before  truth,  falls  into  heresy.  Peace  without  truth 
is  infidelity  or  indifference,  and  brings  down  the 
doom  which  our  Lord  pronounced  on  the  Church  in 
Laodicea  :  '  Thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot ;  I  would 
thou  wert  cold  or  hot :  but  because  thou  art  luke- 
warm, and  neither  cold  nor  hot,  I  will  cast  thee  out 
of  My  mouth.'3 

But  peace  in  truth  can  never  be  attained  till  we 

have  found  the  truth ;  and  truth  we  cannot  finJ  till 

we  have  submitted  ourselves  to  a  teacher  who  cannot 

err.    But  He  must  be  God  Himself.     This,  then, 

»  Apoc.  iii.  15,  16. 


TEUTII  BEFOEE  PEACE.  239 

ought  to  be  our  first  find  chief  work  in  life  :  not  to 
waste  our  years  in  wounding  one  another  by  sense- 
less controversies,  in  trying  to  wrest  the  weapons 
from  each  other's  hands  in  contentions  and  strife, 
but  to  lay  them  at  the  feet  which  were  pierced  for  us 
on  Calvary,  by  surrendering  reason  and  will  to  His 
divine  voice,  teaching  through  His  only  Church.  We 
must  be  taught  of  God  before  we  can  be  at  peace  one 
with  another. 

My  thoughts  were  forcibly  turned  the  other  day 
upon  this  truth,  which  may  be  called  an  axiom  in 
the  faith,  by  words  which  fell  from  one  of  those 
voices  which  assume  to  direct  the  public  opinion  of 
England.  It  was  said  that  '  England  prides  itself  on 
its  piety  and  its  freedom;'  that  'earnest  men  will 
always  be  inquiring ;'  that  '  the  Apostles  urged  in- 
quiry into  natural  religion,  into  the  visible  creation, 
into  Scripture;'  that  they  'appealed  to  the  burning 
curiosity  and  yearning  after  something  better,  which 
was  the  chief  feature  of  their  age;'  that  'this  is  the 
age  of  inquiry;  that  inquiry  is  the  rule;'  and  that 
'  the  source  of  inquiry  is  doubt.'  It  would  seem, 
therefore,  that  every  man  must  begin  in  doubt,  and 
if  he  be  earnest,  be  always  inquiring  to  the  end.  If 
this  be  meant  of  the  world  without  faith,  it  is  true 
enough.  If  it  be  meant  of  the  Christian  world,  that 


240  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

is  of  the  world  illuminated  by  the  faith  and  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  self-evidently  false.  They  who 
have  not  the  truth  whole  and  perfect,  must  he  always 
inquiring,  alwa}rs  douhting.  Not  so  they  who  are 
'  taught  of  God.'  Tertullian4  tells  us  that  the  here- 
tics of  his  day  were  perpetually  repeating,.  '  Quserite, 
et  invenietis ;  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find.'  He  answered: 
Why  seek  what  we  have  already?  We  have  the  truth; 
what  should  we  seek  for  ?  It  is  our  inheritance ; 
it  is  the  gift  of  God ;  it  comes  to  us  unsought ;  it 
precedes  all  inquiry.  We  know  it  without  finding  it, 
for  we  have  it  from  our  haptism.  But,  in  addressing 
these  that  are  out  of  its  unity,  indeed,  the  Church 
appeals  to  inquiry,  and  uses  the  same  words  as  our 
divine  Lord.  '  Search  the  Scriptures ;  for  you  think 
in  them  to  have  life  everlasting;  and  the  same  are 
they  that  give  testimony  of  Me.'5  It  does  not  there- 

4  Tertul.  de  Prescript,  adv.  Harcticos,  cap.  ix.  '  There  is,  then, 
one  certain  truth  established  by  Christ,  which  all  nations  ought 
to  believe,  and  therefore  to  seek,  that  when  they  have  found  it, 
they  may  believe  it.  But  the  inquiry  after  this  one  and  certain 
truth  cannot  go  on  for  ever.  You  must  seek  until  you  find,  and 
believe  when  you  have  found  it.  And  then  nothing  remains  to  be 
done,  but  to  hold  fast  that  which  you  have  believed  ;  forasmuch  as 
you  believe,  moreover,  that  nothing  else  is  to  be  believed.  And 
therefore  nothing  else  is  to  be  sought  after,  when  you  have  found 
and  believed  that  which  has  been  established  by  Him.'  '  No  man 
seeks  save  he  that  has  not,  or  has  lost  that  which  he  had.'  Cap.  si- 

•  St.  John  T.  39. 


TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  241 

by  put  its  own  divine  certainty  and  its  own  divine 
authority  at  stake ;  but  being  conscious  that  the 
Scriptures  testify  of  itself,  as  they  testify  of  Jesus, 
of  the  Body  as  well  as  of  the  Head,  it  challenges  the 
examination  of  its  charter  and  its  commission,  with- 
out ceding  or  suspending  for  a  moment  the  exer- 
cise of  its  divine  authority.  It  requires  faith  in  that 
divine  authority.  This  is  the  first  condition  of  its 
teaching.  It  offers  the  amplest  explanation  of  its 
doctrines  to  those  who  believe  in  its  divine  commis- 
sion. But  it  is  vain  to  explain  the  truths  of  revela- 
tion to  those  who  do  not  believe  them  to  be  revealed. 
Therefore  the  Church  first  requires  faith,  and  then 
descends  into  the  detail  of  its  message  to  mankind. 
But  this  none  can  do  save  only  a  teacher  sent  from 
God,  and  so  taught  by  God,  that  its  voice  is  identi- 
fied with  His,  and  that  the  words  of  Jesus  are  verified, 
'  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  Me.' 

1.  Such,  then,  is  the  attitude  of  the  Church,  in 
the  presence  of  the  world.  It  affirms  its  message 
as  a  witness;  it  bears  its  testimony  with  as  abso- 
lute a  certainty  in  the  nineteenth  century  as  in  the 
first ;  it  does  not  wait  for  the  acceptance  of  men ;  it 
needs  no  countersign  to  confirm  its  declaration.  Our 
Lord  said :  '  You  are  witnesses  of  these  things.'0 
«  St.  Luke  xxiv.  48. 

a 


242  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

'  You  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me  in  Jerusalem,  and 
in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  even  to  the  ut- 
termost part  of  the  earth.'7  St.  Peter  therefore  writes  : 
'We  have  not  followed  cunningly  devised  fables, 
when  we  made  known  unto  you  the  power  and  pre- 
sence of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  but  having  been 
made  eye-witnesses  of  His  majesty.'3  The  Apostles 
were  eye-witnesses  and  car-witnesses  of  what  they 
declared.  For  what  they  testified  they  had  a  cer- 
tainty both  natural  and  supernatural,  both  of  sense 
and  of  faith.  This  testimony  they  delivered  to  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  Their  witness  did  not  lose  a 
particle  of  its  certainty  by  being  diffused  throughout 
the  world.  The  finding  of  a  jury  of  twelve  men  loses 
none  of  its  certainty  by  passing  into  the  common  know- 
ledge, the  public  notoriety,  the  living  consciousness 
of  a  people,  nor  by  being  transcribed  into  the  records 
and  traditions  of  the  realm.  These  become  corrobor- 
ations  of  the  facts,  contemporaneous  attestations,  and 
all  but  eye-witness  and  ear-witness  of  the  events.  So 
the  Incarnation,  Resurrection,  and  Ascension  of  Jesus, 
the  personality,  descent,  perpetual  presence,  and  office 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  passed  with  the  certainty  of 
eye-witness  and  ear-witness  into  the  universal  con- 
sciousness of  the  Christian  world.  The  spring  be- 
»  Acts  i.  8.  •  2  St.  Peter  i.  16. 


TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  2-13 

came  a  river,  and  the  river  became  a  sea.  And,  with 
undiminished  certainty,  the  witness  of  the  Apostles 
has  descended,  ever  expanding  in  its  course,  through 
century  after  century,  to  this  day.  Therefore  St. 
Augustin  said,  that  among  other  motives  which  held 
him  to  the  unity  of  the  Church,  was  '  the  witness  and 
consent  of  nations.'  '  The  Apostles  saw  Christ  pre- 
sent, but  the  Church,  diffused  throughout  the  world, 
they  did  not  see  ...  They  saw  the  Head,  and  believed 
concerning  the  Body  :  we  see  the  Body,  and  believe 
concerning  the  Head.'9  And  this  body  has  a  lineal 
identity,  and  is  a  moral  person ;  and  its  continuous 
and  universal  witness  is  the  same  which  was  delivered 
in  the  beginning.  It  is  the  same  in  every  century 
— in  the  nineteenth  as  in  the  first.  Time  does  not 

9  St.  August.  Serm.  ccxlii.  in  Diebus  Pasch.  13,  torn.  v.  1013. 
The  following  parallel  passage  is  too  beautiful  to  be  omitted : 
'  Let  no  one  put  off  his  fables  upon  you.  Do  not  heed  what  the 
madness  of  heretics'  (Donatists)  '  clamours  about  this  corner  of  the 
world.  The  Church  is  diffused  throughout  the  whole  earth.  All 
nations  possess  the  Church.  Let  no  man  deceive  you.  This  is 
the  true  Church ;  this  is  the  Catholic.  Christ  we  clo  not  see,  this 
we  do  see  :  concerning  Him  let  us  believe.  The  Apostles,  on  the 
other  hand,  saw  Him,  and  believed  concerning  it.  One  thing  they 
saw,  another  they  believed ;  and  we,  on  the  other  hand,  see  one 
thing,  and  let  us  believe  the  other.  They  saw  Christ ;  they  be- 
lieved the  Church,  which  they  saw  not :  and  we  'see  the  Church ;  let 
us  believe  in  Christ,  whom  we  see  not.  And  holding  fast  to  what 
we  see,  we  shall  attain  to  Him,  whom  as  yet  wo  do  not  see.'  St. 
Aug.  Serm.  ccxxxviii.  in  Diebus  Paschal.  11,  Opp.  torn.  v.  997. 


244  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

lessen  its  evidence ;  rather  it  adds  the  accumulated 
testimony  of  ages  and  of  races,  the  most  remote  and 
the  most  discordant  in  all  other  things,  save  only  in 
the  one  consentient,  universal  witness  to  the  Incarna- 
tion of  God,  and  the  presence  of  a  divine  Teacher. 

If,  then,  it  were  only  a  human  and  historical 
evidence,  the  witness  of  the  Catholic  Church  would 
be  the  maximum  of  certainty  to  be  obtained  for  the 
events  and  truths  of  Christianity.  No  other  fact  in 
history  comes  to  us  with  such  an  evidence  as  the 
Christian  revelation  and  the  advent  of  Jesus  Christ. 
If  this  be  not  sufficiently  established  by  the  united 
witnesses  of  Christendom,  then  no  fact  of  history  is 
to  be  believed  as  certain.  Christendom  is  the  fact  in 
itself,  present,  perpetual,  self-evidencing. 

But  the  Church  is  not  only  a  human  and  histori- 
cal witness  of  revelation  ;  it  is  also  a  supernatural  and 
divine.  Its  divine  Head  witnesses  through  it.  The 
Spirit  of  God  sustains  and  directs  its  testimony.  The 
Incarnate  "Word  is  present  with  it,  and  by  it  speaks  to 
us.  And  we,  by  our  intelligence,  are  in  contact  with 
the  revelation  of  Pentecost,  because  its  illumination 
is  perpetual,  and  we  are  replenished  by  its  light. 
But  for  the  perpetual  and  supernatural  witness  of  the 
Church,  how  should  we  know,  with  divine  certainty, 
the  revelation  given  to  man  eighteen  hundred  vears 


THUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  245 

ago  ?  The  spring  which  rises  on  the  mountain-side 
pours  its  waters  upon  the  plain ;  and  they  are  lost  if 
there  be  no  channel  to  receive  them,  no  aqueduct  to 
carry  them  to  distant  cities,  to  slake  the  thirst  of 
men.  But  if  in  the  aqueduct  so  much  as  one  arch 
ho  broken,  all  its  abundance  is  in  vain.  God  has 
provided  that  the  waters  which  came  forth  when  the 
Rock  was  struck  on  Calvary  should  flow  in  a  channel 
of  divine  construction,  in  which  no  arch  is  wanting, 
and  none  can  ever  be  ruined  by  the  hand  of  man. 
The  whole  revelation  flows  down  to  us  from  a  divine 
fountain,  through  a  channel  which  is  also  divinely 
constructed  and  sustained ;  so  that  at  this  hour  the 
Church  bears  its  witness  with  the  same  full  assurance 
as  they  who  heard  from  the  Apostles  their  eye-witness 
and  ear-witness  of  the  revelation  of  their  divine  Lord. 
It  uses  their  very  words  :  '  That  which  was  from  the 
beginning,  which  we  have  heard,  which  we  have  seen 
with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  diligently  looked  upon, 
and  our  hands  have  handled,  concerning  the  Word  of 
Life  :  for  the  life  was  manifested ;  and  we  have  seen, 

and  do  bear  witness That  which  we  have  seen 

and  have  heard,  we  declare  unto  you.'10 

2.  And  therefore  it  teaches  also  as  one  having 
authority.     In  the  midst  of  the  voices  which  torment 

'•  1  St.  John  i.  1,  2,  3. 


246  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

the  minds  of  men  by  disputation  and  contradiction, 
by  doubt  and  by  controversy,  there  is  one  voice, 
calm,  clear,  articulate,  unchanging,  which  pierces 
through  all,  is  heard  above  all,  and  commands  atten- 
tion even  from  those  who  hate  it.  God  sent  His 
Son  into  the  world,  divided  and  distracted  as  it  was 
by  contentious  teachers,  that  He  might  abolish  all 
human  usurpation  over  the  reason  of  mankind,  and 
redeem  it  into  a  divine  liberty  of  truth.  'Where 
is  the  wise,  where  is  the  scribe,  where  is  the  dis- 
puter  of  this  world  ?  Hath  not  God  made  foolish 
the  wisdom  of  this  world?'11  The  Church  knows 
what  it  teaches,  with  a  divine  certainty.  The  illu- 
mination of  Pentecost  penetrates  throughout  the  whole 
Catholic  unity  on  earth,  with  a  light  and  conscious- 
ness of  truth.  It  cannot  err  in  believing ;  for  God  is 
its  teacher.  The  radiance  which  fills  it  falls  from  the 
divine  Person  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  always  present 
with  it.  This  is  its  passive  infallibility,  whereby 
the  whole  is  pervaded,  as  the  sea  is  pervaded  by  the 
light  of  the  noon-day  sun.  The  Bishop  on  his  throne, 
the  Doctor  in  the  schools,  the  peasant  in  the  fields, 
the  little  child  at  its  mother's  knee,  all  alike  are  il- 
luminated and  sustained  by  the  passive  infallibility 
which  replenishes  the  whole  mystical  Body. 
»  1  Cor.  i.  20. 


TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  247 

To  this  divine  certainty,  which  habitually  and 
passively  per.vades  the  intelligence  of  the  faithful, 
there  is  added  the  divine  assistance  which  guides 
the  Church  in  its  teaching ;  that  is,  the  gift  of  active 
infallibility  which  sustains  the  whole  body  of  its 
pastors,  whether  spread  throughout  the  world,  or 
congregated  in  council ;  and  also  in  an  eminent 
way  the  person  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ.  St. 
Gregory  says  :  '  The  doctors  of  the  faithful  are  the 
disciples  of  the  Church.'  They  are  first  taught 
by  a  divine  Teacher  before  they  teach  others,  and 
so  all  alike  are  '  taught  of  the  Lord.'  The  dogma 
of  faith  is  infused  into  them  by  the  light  of  the 
Church  before  they  speak  in  its  name;  and  the 
faithful,  by  their  mouths,  hear  not  the  voice  of  an 
individual,  but  of  the  universal  Church  of  all  ages 
and  of  all  lands.  Though  they  are  not  infallible, 
one  by  one,  in  their  pastoral  office,  the  Church  which 
guides  them  is.  They  must  be  unfaithful  to  it  be- 
fore they  can  err ;  and  even  then  '  the  ears  of  the 
faithful'  would  be,  as  of  old,  purer  than  the  '  lips  of 
the  priest.'  The  instincts  of  a  Catholic  child  would 
detect  the  novelties  of  human  error. 

.Through  these  eighteen  hundred  years,  some 
eighteen  General  Councils,  and  some  two  hundred 
and  fifty  Pontiffs,  with  divine  certainty  and  divine 


248  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

assistance,  have  infallibly  witnessed  and  taught. 
They  have  taught,  therefore,  with  authority,  that 
is,  as  '  having  power :'  but  that  power  is  truth ;  for 
he  that  has  the  truth  has  power,  and  none  other 
but  he.  The  authority  of  the  Church  and  of  the 
Pontiffs  does  not  primarily  signify  an  act  of  the  will, 
but  of  the  intelligence.  The  authority  of  the  Church 
was  first  the  authority  of  evidence,  before  it  became 
the  authority  of  command.  The  Church  binds  men 
to  believe,  because  it  is  divinely  guided  to  teach 
them  what  they  are  bound  to  believe.  The  will  can 
be  bound  only  through  the  intelligence.  God  in- 
fuses faith  into  our  reason  by  holy  Baptism,  before 
He  lays  His  law  upon  us.  So  with  the  Church  of 
God ;  because  it  knows  the  truth,  therefore  it  binds 
us  to  believe  it.  The  light  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
illuminates  it;  therefore  it  says  now,  as  in  the  be- 
ginning :  '  It  hath  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  to  us.'12  It  commands  us  in  the  name  of  God, 
because  it  speaks  with  the  voice  of  God;  and  it 
speaks  with  the  voice  of  God,  because  it  has  the 
mind,  that  is,  the  truth  of  God.  'For  what  man 
knoweth  the  things  of  a  man,  but  the  spirit  of  a  man 
that  is  in  him  ?  So  the  things,  also,  'that  are  of 
God  no  man  knoweth,  but  the  Spirit  of  God.  Now 

«  Acts  xv.  28. 


¥  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  249 

\ve  have  received  not  the  spirit  of  this  world,  but  the 
spirit  that  is  of  God,  that  we  may  know  the  things 
that  are  given  us  from  God.'13 

It  is  truth,  then,  that  generates  authority — not 
authority  that  generates  truth.  There  must  be  truth 
first,  and  authority  afterwards ;  for  authority  is  truth 
convincing  the  intelligence  with  its  light,  and  bind- 
ing the  will  by  those  convictions,  and  by  the  au- 
thority of  God  which  pervades  them.  It  is  this  that 
the  men  of  the  world,  and  chiefly  in  our  day,  can- 
not understand.  They  denounce  the  authority  of  the 
Church  as  a  tyranny  and  a  bondage.  It  would  be 
as  unreasonable  to  talk  of  the  tyranny  of  science  and 
the  bondage  of  numbers.  Truth  is  immutable  and 
divine;  and  the  Church  which  has  the  truth  of  God 
has  also  the  power  and  authority  of  God. 

3.  And  once  more :  as  the  Church  with  divine 
certainty  witnesses  and  teaches,  so  it  judges.  It  is 
the  sole  fountain  of  all  judgments  as  to  the  faith ; 
and  the  last  appeal,  after  which  there  is  only  the 
judgment  of  the  last  day.  It  alone  in  the  world 
knows  the  revelation  of  God,  its  contents  and  its- 
limits  ;  and  therefore  it  alone  can  judge  what  truths 
are  contained  in  it,  what  is  accordant,  what  is  dis- 
cordant with  it.  If  it  were  not  for  the  Church,  we 

»»  1  Cor.  ii.  11,  12. 


250  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  «. 

should  not  have  known  that  a  revelation  had  ever 
been  given.  They  who  pretend  to  know  what  that 
revelation  is,  apart  from  its  authority,  or  to  inter- 
pret it  against  its  teaching,  simply  convict  themselves 
of  incoherence  and  of  unbelief.  They  receive  the 
Scriptures  from  the  Church,  and  yet  disbelieve  the 
Church  which  delivers  the  Scriptures  to  them.  For 
it  is  the  Church  alone  that  testified  to  us  the  exist- 
ence of  holy  Scripture.  We  should  not  have  known 
with  divine  certainty  that  sacred  books  had  ever  been 
written,  much  less  their  inspiration  ;  or  what  inspira- 
tion is ;  or  the  number  and  names  of  the  books — 
that  is,  the  canon ;  or  the  reading  and  sense  of  the 
text — but  for  the  supernatural  witness  and  discern- 
ment of  the  Church. 

And  as  no  other  can  judge  what  books  are  Scrip- 
ture, so  no  other  can  judge  of  the  interpretation 
of  the  sacred  books.  The  Church  alone  knows  the 
whole  revelation,  of  which  the  Scriptures  record  a 
part,  and  knew  it  before  they  were  written ;  and  it- 
self is,  in  its  unity,  universality,  and  authority,  in 
its  faith,  sacraments,  and  action  upon  the  world,  not 
only  the  interpreter,  but  the  interpretation. 

And  farther,  for  the  same  reason,  the  Church 
alone  can  judge  what  is  primitive,  what  was  believed 
always,  everywhere,  and  by  all.  For  who  knows 


TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  251 

yvhat  is  antiquity  but  that  living  Church,  to  whom 
intiquity  is  a  part  of  its  own  consciousness  ?  Anti- 
quity is  its  own  past ;  but,  by  its  identity,  antiquity 
is  present  to  the  Church  at  this  hour.  Antiquity  to 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  to-day.  The  words, 
'  Behold,  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  unto  the  con- 
summation of  the  world,'  are  the  pledge  of  its  per- 
sonal identity,  its  unbroken  continuity,  its  perpetual 
self-knowledge,  by  which  it  knows  itself,  not  only  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  but  in  every  age  upward,  to 
the  hour  when  it  saw  the  lights  of  Pentecost,  and 
spoke  face  to  face  with  the  Incarnate  "Word. 

And  therefore,  with  all  the  plenitude  of  illumi- 
nation, by  which  it  sustains  and  enunciates  in  every 
age  the  whole  revelation  with  all  its  contents,  the 
Church  alone  can  judge  of  the  controversies  which 
arise  within  it  or  against  it.  And  it  judges  within 
the  circle  of  its  own  sovereignty;  permitting  no  mind 
or  voice  of  man  to  intrude  upon  the  sanctuary  of  its 
supernatural  discernment.  Not  only  philosophers  and 
disputers,  sophists  and  heresiarchs,  but  the  most 
majestic  powers  of  the  world  are  excluded  from  its 
tribunals.  Kings  and  emperors,  human  legislators 
and  the  supreme  judges  among  men,  to  the  Church 
are  as  shadows  and  as  nothing.  It  weighs  and  ad- 
judicates ;  it  pronounces  and  promulgates ;  it  admits 


252  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

of  no  appeal  to  the  populace,  or  to  the  princes  of  the 
earth.  It  will  not  suffer  one  jot  or  one  tittle  of  its 
judgments  to  be  revised,  or  to  be  carried  to  any 
tribunal  but  its  own.  All  its  causes  of  faith  and 
morals  begin  and  end  within  the  circle  of  its  own 
unity,  and  are  terminated  by  the  voice  of  its  own 
supernatural  authority;  for  its  judgments,  by  the 
will  and  by  the  assistance  of  God,  are  infallible  and 
therefore  final. 

Can  anybody  imagine  a  controversy  about  an 
article  of  the  faith,  as,  for  instance,  whether  tbo 
Sacrament  of  holy  Baptism  does  or  does  not  always 
confer  regeneration  upon  the  infant  rightly  bap- 
tised ;  or  whether  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar 
there  be  or  be  not  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  —  can  anybody,  I  ask,  imagine  such  a  ques- 
tion to  be  carried  by  appeal  from  the  highest  spi- 
ritual judge  to  the  crown,  even  in  Turin,  tormented 
as  it  is  by  a  spirit  of  schism  and  insubordination 
to  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Can  anybody  for  .a 
moment  conceive  that  the  Catholic  and  Roman 
Church,  in  any  land  under  heaven,  weak  as  it 
may  be,  and  however  mighty  the  civil  power,  would 
for  a  moment  hesitate  to  accept  persecution,  exile, 
martyrdom,  rather  than  such  a  denial  of  its  supreme 
and  divine  authority  in  faith  ?  • ' . 


TBUTH  BEFOEE  PEACE.  253 

Can  anybody  imagine  the  reverend  clergy  who 
are  here  before  me  to  be  teaching  contradictory 
doctrines  as  to  the  grace  of  sacraments,  the  exist- 
ence of  a  priesthood,  the  nature,  visibleness,  or  unity 
of  the  Church  ?  Can  any  one  imagine  them  for  a 
moment  to  acquiesce,  even  by  silence,  in  a  system 
which  has  two  kinds  of  doctrines,  some  of  which  are 
true,  and  others  which,  although  not  true,  are  le- 
gal ?  Would  they  for  one  moment,  to  save  all  dear 
to  them  in  the  world,  or  even  life  itself,  hold  com- 
munion in  sacred  things  with  any,  however  great 
or  powerful,  who  denies  so  much  as  an  iota  of  the 
faith  of  the  infallible  Church  of  God  ?  And  why  is 
this,  but  because,  being  the  Church  of  God,  it  is 
taught  of  God,  and  they  are  therefore  penetrated  and 
quickened  by  the  spiritual  consciousness  that  the 
holy  Catholic  and  Roman  Church,  divine  and  im- 
mutable in  its  light  and  voice,  is  the  sole  witness, 
teacher,  and  judge  of  the  integrity  and  purity  of  the 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ.  , 

Such,  then,  is  the  promise  :  '  Thy  children  shall 
all  be  taught  of  the  Lord.'  And  so  throughout  the 
world,  and  in  every  age,  God  has  taught  His  people, 
pastors  and  flock,  Saints  and  doctors,  learned  and 
unlearned,  old  and  young,  man  and  woman  and  child, 
all-alike,  and  all  by  one  rule  of  faith,  and  by  the 


254  THUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

voice  of  one  and  the  same  Teacher,  audible  bj  all, 
and  intelligible  to  all.  It  is  this  unity  of  the  d  .vine 
voice  which  has  generated  the  wo  rid -wide  unity  of 
the  faith ;  and  the  unity  of  the  faith  has  generated 
the  unity  of  worship  and  of  action,  of  communion 
and  of  peace,  which  binds  the  holy  Church  in  one 
from  the  sunrise  to  the  sunset.  In  the  midst  of  all 
the  tumults  of  men,  and  the  persecution  of  these 
latter  days,  the  promise  is  fulfilled  to  the  letter, 
'  Great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children.'  And 
after  all  its  desolations  from  without,  a  divine  hand 
lays  again  its  stones  in  order,  and  builds  up  its  walls 
with  jasper,  and  keeps  its  bulwarks  and  its  borders 
with  a  divine  power  and  an  unearthly  peace. 

But  though  the  Church  is  ever  in  safety,  it  is 
ever  in  the  storm ;  and  the  divine  voice  is  always 
saying :  '  0  thou  tost  with  tempest ;'  for  in  every  age 
the  ark  upon  the  waters  is  violently  carried  to  and 
fro.  We  live  in  a  time  marked  with  great  events, 
and  marked  too  with  singular  manifestations  of  the 
power  of  God.  Fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  the  Church 
seemed  to  be  swept  away  before  a  triumphant  infi- 
delity. But  the  infidelity  is  swept  away,  and  the 
Church  in  its  majesty  is  here.  Every  tongue  that 
has  risen  against  it  has  been  condemned.  Three 
hundred  years  of  proud  and  contemptuous  contro- 


TEUTH  BEFORE  PEACE.  255 

versy  has  ended  in  the  confusion  of  Anglican  Pro- 
testantism. For  fifteen  years  men  have  been  saying 
the  time  is  come  at  last,  and  the  temporal  power  of 
the  Pope  is  fallen.  The  floods  have  risen  even  to 
the  parapet  of  the  wall ;  but  in  a  moment  they  have 
swept  by  and  are  gone.  The  Holy  See  stands  in 
the  immutability  of  its  supremacy ;  and  the  temporal 
power  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ — that  is,  his  inde- 
pendence of  all  civil  authorities,  and  his  supreme 
direction  over  all  individuals  and  households,  cities 
and  nations,  legislatures  and  kingdoms,  in  all  matters 
of  the  divine  faith  and  law — stands  four-square  and 
immovable  upon  the  rock  where  the  divine  hand  has 
built  His  Church.  '  No  weapon  formed  against  it 
has  prospered.'  There  it  stands,  the  supreme  wit- 
ness, teacher,  and  judge  of  men,  of  their  actions  and 
their  words,  in  all  things  pertaining  to  God. 

And  as  in  all  the  world,  so  here  in  England. 
We  at  this  hour  are  witnesses  of  two  great  opera- 
tions :  the  one,  the  fulfilment  of  the  words  of  our 
divine  Master,  'Every  kingdom  divided  against  it- 
self shall  be  made  desolate,  and  every  city  or  house 
divided  against  itself  shall  not  stand.'14  "We  see  the 
great  religious  fabric  reared  by  man  three  hundred 
years  ago,  upon  the  foundation  where  the  Church 
>«  St.  Matt.  -sii.  26. 


256  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

once  stood  in  this  land,  rent  from  top  to  bottom. 
The  seat  of  the  divine  Teacher  is  empty,  and  His 
voice  is  heard  no  more.  Its  people  are  robbed  of 
their  inheritance.  Their  teachers  and  their  guides 
are  men.  Human  voices  are  clamouring  in  multi- 
tudinous discord ;  for  the  wills  and  the  thoughts  of 
man,  cast  loose  from  the  influences  of  the  divine 
Guide,  by  whom  they  were  of  old  held  in  the  path 
of  unity  and  truth,  have  scattered  themselves  for 
centuries  with  a  perpetual  divergence  and  a  growing 
repulsion.  The  beautiful  fabric  of  Christian  faith 
and  peace,  which  St.  Cuthbert  and  St.  Aidan  spread 
over  the  face  of  Northumbria,  has  been  rudely  broken 
and  has  melted  away.  The  glow  and  the  fragrance 
which  was  upon  the  sanctuaries  and  the  homes  of 
northern  England  has  faded  and  is  gone.  The  times 
of  desolation  are  corne  back  once  more.  But  it  will 
not  be  so  for  ever.  There  are  already  the  tokens  of 
the  divine  hand  upon  us,  and  the  outlines  of  the 
ancient  beauty  are  rising  once  more. 

Fifty  years  ago,  a  Bishop  of  the  Church,  in  the 
time  of  its  bondage  and  poverty,  laid,  with  the  power 
of  a  primitive  faith,  upon  a  bare  hill  overlooking  the 
splendours  of  Durham,  the  first  stone  of  a  Catholic 
college.  It  was  a  great  venture,  almost  a  rashness, 
in  euch  days  of  weakness  and  oppression.  Never- 


TRUTH  BEFOKE  PEACE.  257 

tbeless  it  was  done,  and  the  work  prospered.  A  col- 
lege rose  in  fair  proportions ;  but  its  founder,  with 
all  the  confidence  of  his  faith,  little  thought  what 
should  be  the  expansion  of  the  work  which  he  then 
began  in  poverty  and  straitness.  At  this  day,  this 
slender  beginning  has  ascended  and  unfolded  itself 
into  a  vastness  and  a  splendour  of  which  no  one  ever 
dreamed.  The  single  college  of  fifty  years  ago  has 
multiplied  itself  into  a  cluster  of  halls  and  chapels,  of 
cloisters  and  quadrangles,  for  stateliness  and  beauty 
surpassing  almost  any  modern  work  in  England. 
There  it  stands  with  its  three  hundred  students,  the 
spiritual  mother  of  a  multitude  of  priests.  It  renews 
before  us  the  creations  of  the  Church  in  other  days, 
when  it  reigned  over  the  English  people  in  wealth 
and  majesty,  possessed  of  lands  and  baronies,  of  poli- 
tical power  and  ancient  privileges  in  courts  and  Par- 
liaments. Nor  is  this  great  work  the  only  one  which 
the  Church  has  accomplished.  In  the  last  fifty  or  a 
hundred  years,  the  Church  in  England  has  built  and 
matured  four  noble  colleges,  at  Ushaw,  at  Oscott,  at 
St.  Edmund's,  and  at  Stoneyhurst.  By  the  wisdom  of 
their  founders,  they  were  placed  in  four  distant  cen- 
tres, that  their  influence  might  bear  upon  England 
from  four  several  points.  But  if  they  had  all  been  con- 
gregated in  some  one  place,  some  one  town  or  city,  in 

s 


258  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

the  midst  of  England,  with  their  stately  buildings  and 
their  six  hundred  students,  they  would  constitute  the 
beginning  of  a  university  of  noble  and  vast  propor- 
tions.15 'I  doubt  whether  the  Church,  before  the  great 
desolation  of  Protestantism,  while  it  was  yet  in  pos- 
session of  wealth  and  power,  ever  founded  and  perfected 
in  a  century  four  greater  works  than  these.  And  by 
whom  and  in  what  days  were  they  accomplished? 
By  Catholics  under  penal  laws,  or  only  just  emerg- 
ing from  them ;  diminished  to  a  handful,  in  deepest 
poverty,  and  robbed  of  the  patrimony  which  the  cha- 
rity and  piety  of  their  forefathers  bequeathed  for 
such  works  as  these.  I  know  nothing  to  which  these 
creations  may  be  ascribed,  save  the  inexhaustible  and 
prolific  power  of  the  Church  of  God,  which,  with 
a  boundless  fertility,  reproduces  always  the  same 
works  with  the  same  facility  and  the  same  perfection. 
No  other  cause  for  it  can  be  found,  but  the  super- 
natural power  of  God  working  for  the  Church  in  its 
greatest  desolation,  once  more  laying  its  stones  in 
order,  and  renewing  its  beauty  as  at  the  first. 

One  last  word  of  a  more  personal  and  local  kind, 
and  I  have  done.  Near  to  the  place  where  this  church 
now  stands  was  the  house  of  a  Catholic  mother,  who 

15  This  might  be  greatly  strengthened  by  adding  St.  Ecuno's, 
Downside,  Ampleforth,  and  the  like. 


TRUTH  BEFOEE  PEACE.  2p9 

had  fixed  her  home  in  Durham,  that  she  might  more 
carefully  watch  over  her  son,  then  a  boy  in  St.  Cuth- 
bert's  College,  at  Ushaw.  It  was  more  than  fifty 
years  ago,  when  the  spirit  of  the  English  people  had 
not  yet  been  liberated  from  the  possession  of  hatred 
to  the  Catholic  faith  and  Church.  The  present  gene- 
ration can  hardly  remember  what  was  the  violence  of 
those  days.  The  next  generation  will  hardly  believe 
when  they  read  it  in  history.  It  chanced  that  this 
Catholic  boy,  it  may  be  of  ten  or  twelve  years  old, 
was  detained  from  college,  under  his  mother's  roof. 
It  was  the  moment  of  a  parliamentary  election.  The 
house  opposite  to  their  home  was  the  principal  inn 
in  Durham.  It  is  now  the  convent  of  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy.  An  election  committee  was  there  sitting, 
and  an  election  mob  was  gathered  about  the  door. 
The  spirit  of  party  was  running  high,  and  men's 
blood,  as  is  usual,  was  heated,  and  there  was  uproar 
in  the  street.  The  boy  was  standing  at  the  window 
to  see  the  fray.  The  mob  caught  sight  of  him,  and 
assailed  him  with  hootings  of  contempt,  and  with 
names' which,  as  they  are  now  falling  into  forgetful- 
ness,  I  will  not  repeat.  The  Catholic  mother,  ter- 
rified at  the  increasing  uproar,  and  fearing  for  the 
safety  of  her  son,  drew  him  back  into  the  room,  and 
out  of  sight. 


260  TRUTH  BEFORE  PEACE. 

Again,  there  came  a  day,  some  fifty  years  after- 
wards, when  that  boy,  grown  to  manhood,  stood  in 
the  midst  of  a  still  greater  tumult,  which  upheaved  the 
whole  of  England,  from  its  highest  to  its  lowest,  with 
storm  and  tempest  against  the  Catholic  and  Roman 
Church.  Once  more  he  stood,  hut  now  surrounded  by 
his  brethren  in  the  Episcopate,  higher  than  all,  fear- 
less, and  appealing  in  calm  articulate  voice  to  the 
common  sense  of  the  people  of  England  as  the  first 
Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westminster. 

And  with  these  two  auguries  of  good  for  the 
Church  in  northern  England,  I  will  say  no  more. 
As  Lindisfarne  and  Durham  of  old  sent  forth  apostles 
and  evangelists  over  the  face  of  Northumbria,  so  now 
Hexham  and  Ushaw  take  their  place.  Some  three 
hundred  priests,  humble  and  self-denying,  have  al- 
ready gone  forth  hence  over  the  north  of  England, 
sons  and  missionaries  of  peace,  children  of  the  only 
Church  which,  being  taught  of  God,  never  falters  in 
its  voice,  because  it  never  wavers  in  its  faith,  but 
stands  luminous  always  and  changeless,  '  yesterday, 
to-day,  and  the  same  for  ever,'  in  the  vision  of  truth 
seen  by  faith,  the  prelude  of  the  vision  of  peace, 
which  is  the  vision  of  God. 


IX. 
OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO : 

At  the  solemn  Requiem  of  Nicholas,  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  West- 
minster, in  the  Pro-Cathedral,  Feb.  23,  1865. 


THE  words  prefixed  to  this  Sermon  are  the  well-known 
legend  "borne  by  his  Eminence  the  late  Cardinal  Arch- 
bishop of  Westminster.  They  so  truly  express  the  unity 
of  his  life,  and  the  consecration  of  all  his  thoughts,  words, 
works,  gifts,  and  sufferings  to  the  service  of  his  divine 
Master,  that  no  others  could  form  a  fitter  title  to  this 
slight  outline  of  so  great  a  career.  In  the  following  pages 
will  he  found  a  few  passages  which,  were  omitted  in  de- 
livery; and  one  fact  inserted  from  the  beautiful  Lenten 
Pastoral  of  the  Eight  Eev.  the  Bishop  of  Beverley. 

H.  E.  MANNING. 
Bayswater,  Feb.  24,  1865. 


OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO. 


Let  Nehemias  be  a  long  time  remembered,  who  raised  up  for  us 
our  walls  that  were  cast  down,  and  set  up  the  gates  and  the 
bars,  who  rebuilt  our  houses.  ECCLUS.  xlix.  15. 

IF  the  command  of  authority  had  not  bid  me  speak 
to-day,  I  should  not  have  ventured  on  this  task.  It 
would  be  a  hard  task  to  any  one.  It  is  a  harder  task 
to  me  than  to  most.  It  is  beyond  the  power  of  any 
of  us  to  speak  as  we  ought  of  the  great  Pastor  and 
Prince  of  the  Church,  who  lies  here  in  the  midst  of 
us.  It  is  altogether  beyond  mine.  I  have,  moreover, 
a  farther  hindrance ;  the  private  sorrow  for  the  loss 
of  the  truest  of  friends,  the  last  in  this  kind  I  can 
ever  have  in  life. 

But  as  he,  in  his  last  days,  unknown  to  me,  and 
when  I  was  afar  off,  laid  on  me  this  command,  I  ful- 
fil it  as  I  can.  It  is  the  last  obedience  I  can  render 
to  him,  whom  it  has  been  my  happiness  and  my  hon- 
our for  these  thirteen  years  very  feebly  but  faithfully 
to  serve. 

It  would  not,  however,  become  me  on  such  a  day 


264  OMNIA  PRO  CHEISTO. 

of  public  mourning  to  speak  of  any  private  sorrow  of 
my  own.  For  to  whom  is  not  this  a  private  sorrow 
and  a  personal  grief? 

I  see  before  me  the  Bishops  of  the  Catholic  Church 
in  England  shorn  of  their  chief  glory.  The  light 
which  went  before  them  is  gone  out,  and  the  strong 
arm  which  struck  for  them  is  still  in  death.  And 
yet  it  is  not  only  a  public  but  a  private  grief  also  to 
you.  On  most  of  you  that  hand  impressed  the  Epis- 
copal character.  He  was  guide,  teacher,  and  friend 
to  many  of  you,  who  grew  up  around  him  as  his  dis- 
ciples and  his  sons. 

Of  the  priesthood  gathered  here,  perhaps  the 
greater  number,  either  in  Rome  or  at  Oscott,  learned 
from  his  lips,  were  upheld  and  guided  by  his  voice. 
The  hands  of  many  were  anointed  by  him  with  unc- 
tion of  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  Many,  perhaps,  would 
never  have  held  out  in  the  dangers  which  beset  their 
vocation,  but  for  his  encouraging  voice  and  his  sus- 
taining hand.  You  too  have  .lost  not  only  a  pastor, 
but  a  father  and  a  friend. 

Many  here  are  his  spiritual  children  in  the  gos- 
pel of  Jesus  Christ.  They  would  never  have  known 
the  perfect  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  but  for  him. 
Many  would  never  have  been  penitents,  many  never 
Christians,  but  for  the  voice  of  the  Good  Shepherd 


OMNIA  PEG  CHRISTO.  265 

which  spoke  by  his  lips.  Many  of  you  loved  him 
as  the  kindest  and  tenderest  of  friends;  many  as  a 
benefactor,  a  counsellor,  a  comforter.  To  all  of  us, 
then,  it  is  a  private  sorrow.  And  yet  it  rises  into 
something  more  than  a  personal  grief.  There  is  a 
mourning  to-day  throughout  the  Catholic  Church  in 
England.  The  Pastor  who  has  led  the  whole  flock 
in  the  last  fifteen  years  is  gone  before  us,  and  has 
left  us  in  the  wilderness.  The  solemn  requiem  is 
ascending  throughout  England  for  the  repose  of  that 
great  soul. 

Not  in  England  alone,  but  wheresoever  the  Eng- 
lish speech  is  known,  the  name  of  Nicholas  "Wise- 
man, the  first  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westminster, 
is  a  title  of  honour  cherished  and  revered. 

And  not  only  where  our  tongue  is  spoken,  but 
in  all  languages  within  the  unity  of  the  Universal 
Church,  the  name  and  fame  of  our  beloved  and  la- 
mented Pastor  is  in  veneration. 

The  other  day,  when  he  recalled  me  to  his  side, 
everywhere  as  I  travelled  homewards,  the  first  ques- 
tion was  of  that  precious  life.  They  only  knew  that 
I  was  an  Englishman ;  but  their  first  inquiry,  full  of 
sympathy  and  condolence,  was  of  his  state. 

But  most  of  all,  where  he  was  best  known  and 
most  cherished,  in  Rome,  among  the  friends  of  his 


OMNIA  PEO  CHRISTO. 

youth,  now  princes  in  the  Sacred  College,  his  life 
was  counted  as  of  great  price,  and  his  death  as  the 
extinction  of  one  of  the  brightest  lights  which  sur- 
round the  Holy  See.  When  the  Sovereign  Pontiff 
knew  that  hope  was  all  but  gone,  he  lifted  his  hands 
and  eyes  to  heaven,  and  said  :  '  This  and  the  loss  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Cologne  are  two  heavy  blows  to 
me.  The  Archbishop  for  Prussia,  and  the  Cardinal 
for  England,  at  this  moment  were  of  inestimable 
worth.  But  the  will  of  the  Lord  be  done.' 

Our  private  griefs,  then,  lose  themselves,  and  are 
ennobled  in  this  universal  mourning.  There  will  be 
a  world-wide  sorrow  wheresoever  the  Catholic  name 
is  spread.  "We  are  all  poorer  by  this  loss ;  and 
the  voice  which  has  taught,  cheered,  elevated,  and 
strengthened  tens  of  thousands  in  every  land  will  be 
heard  no  more  on  earth.  Henceforth  it  is  mingled 
with  the  voices  which  are  eternal. 

"What,  then,  can  I  say  ?  You  know  all,  you  feel 
all,  that  can  be  spoken.  I  cannot  narrate  a  biogra- 
phy, the  outlines  and  dates  of  which  have  been  during 
these  last  days  in  all  our  hands. 

I  cannot  undertake  a  criticism  of  his  wonderful 
gifts  and  powers,  and  of  the  rich  fertility  of  the 
mind  which  will  fascinate  us  no  more.  It  would  be 
a  cold  and  heartless  task. 


OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO.  267 

Least  of  all  can  I  pronounce  a  panegyric.  The 
name  Nicholas  "Wiseman  is  a  panegyric  in  itself. 
The  life  which'  is  before  you  in  all  its  complete- 
ness, its  unity,  its  expanding  powers,  its  multiplying 
honours,  its  exuberant  works,  its  calm  tranquil  sun- 
set— all  this,  which  you  already  know,  sets  before  you 
a  noble  and  stately  picture  of  a  great  Christian,  a 
chief  Pastor  of  the  flock,  a  Prince  over  the  Church  of 
God. 

What,  then,  is  left  to  me  ? 

I  can  but  draw  most  faintly  and  hastily  the  out- 
lines of  a  great  life.  Here  and  there  I  may  put  in  a 
few  personal  features,  single  touches  of  the  beautiful 
colours  which  played  about  him  ;  and  a  few  words 
from  that  voice,  which,  though  we  shall  hear  it  no 
more,  yet  speaks  by  the  accents  of  the  past  hanging 
in  the  air,  or  inscribed  deeply  in  works  which  cannot 
pass  away. 

It  was  but  the  other  day  we  were  preparing  to 
welcome  as  a  festival  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of 
his  Episcopal  consecration.  The  tenacity  to  life  with 
which  he  held  on,  through  mortal  sickness  and  ever- 
returning  dangers,  had  misled  us  into  a  sanguine 
expectation  that  the  twenty -five  years  would  run 
their  course.  But  we  shall  celebrate  it  otherwise 
now.  The  act  of  to-day  is,  as  it  were,  the  vigil  of 


268  OMNIA  PEG  CHKISTO. 

that  festival  which  we  may  keep  still,  but  with  other 
thoughts  and  with  other  records  of  his  great  career. 

For  a  great  period  it  was.  From  1840  to  1865  is 
perhaps  the  most  pregnant  and  vivid  period  in  the 
Catholic  history  of  modern  England  since  its  separa- 
tion from  unity.  I  am  well  aware  that  in  those  five- 
and-twenty  years  many  devout  Catholics.,  Priests,  and 
Bishops,  of  whom  some  are  here  to-day,  laboured 
powerfully  in  the  work  of  building  up  in  England 
the  ruins  of  Catholic  order.  I  bear  this  always  in 
mind,  when  I  speak  of  the  career  of  the  Cardinal 
Archbishop.  They  were  around  him  and  at  his  side ; 
some  were  in  the  field  before  him ;  many  have  done 
great  and  notable  works ;  some  had  their  hands  upon 
the  very  same  works  which  are  identified  with  him. 
Nevertheless,  they  will  bear  a  glad  and  generous  wit- 
ness to  my  words,  when  I  say  that  he  towers  above 
them  all.  The  works  of  which  I  shall  speak  were 
not  exclusively  his.  No ;  because  the  works  of  the 
Church  are  all  in  common.  It  has  one  heart,  one 
will,  one  strength,  one  arm.  And  yet,  though  not  ex- 
clusively his,  they  are  emphatically  his ;  that  is,  the 
will  and  providence  of  God  us%d  him  as  its  instru- 
ment with  special  and  distinguishing  pre-eminence. 

It  was  in  the  year  1863  that  the  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
speaking  to  me  of  the  Cardinal,  described  him  as  '  the 


OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO.  269 

man  of  divine  providence  for  England.'  The  words 
struck  me  as  visibly  exact  and  true.  But  I  do 
not  know  that  until  now  I  have  ever  seen  their  full 
meaning.  We  have  his  life  now  before  us,  from  its 
rising  to  its  setting.  We  can  trace  it  in  all  its  times, 
— in  its  period  of  preparation,  in  its  period  of  active 
power,  in  its  period  of  withdrawal  from  the  field. 
And  there  seems  to  be  a  singular  completeness  about 
it,  and  a  visible  correspondence  to  the  time  and  the 
country  for  which  he  laboured. 

His  mission  was  to  England  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  to  the  most  critical  period  of  that  cen- 
tury for  us. 

The  Church  in  England  had  already  endured  its 
three  hundred  years  of  desolation.  The  time  of  the 
liberation  of  the  Church  had  come.  Catholics  were 
free  once  more.  The  Holy  Sacrifice  was  restored  with 
public  manifestation  upon  the  altar.  The  Emancipa- 
tion was  not  the  beginning  of  a  movement,  but  itself 
an  effect  of  causes  long  in  action,  afar  off  and  in 
other  lands.  The  great  oscillation  to  and  fro,  which 
restored  so  much  of  the  Catholic  inheritance  in  for- 
eign countries,  began  to  work  upon  England.  The 
horrors  and  impieties  of  the  first  French  Eevolution 
had  produced  a  reaction  towards  Catholic  faith  and 
Catholic  piety.  The  tide  had  turned  upon  the  Conti- 


270  OMNIA  PEO  CHRISTO. 

nent,  and  its  undulations  reached  our  shores.  When 
the  tide  turns,  the  tidal  rivers  rise.  England  began 
to  feel  the  weight  and  the  pressure  of  a  broader  and 
nobler  religious  spirit  than  was  to  be  found  in  the 
three  hundred  years  of  its  past  history.  The  change 
of  our  polity  in  1828,  1829,  let  loose  a  flood  upon 
this  country.  It  had  been  ice-bound  for  generations. 
But  the  thaw  had  set  in.  After  the  frost  comes  the 
flow,  and  as  in  the  floods  which  inundate  the  land, 
all  things  are  lifted,  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  the  trees 
of  the  forest,  the  dwellings  of  men  ;  so  it  was  in  Eng- 
land, when  the  old  tradition  of  three  centuries  gave 
way  before  the  larger  spirit  of  modern  legislation. 

Still  more  ;  under  the  surface  there  was  a  move- 
ment as  of  many  contending  currents,  intellectual 
and  spiritual,  hardly  known  while  as  yet  the  old  ex- 
clusiveness  held  all  activity  in  check.  These  vigorous 
and  vehement  movements  went  on,  year  after  year, 
multiplying  in  speed  and  volume.  A  crisis  was 
come.  Doubt,  uncertainty,  restlessness,  great  dis- 
content, great  license  of  opinion,  a  craving  for  truth, 
unity,  and  peace,  and  withal  an  earnest  seeking  for 
it  at  all  costs,  absolute  mistrust  of  the  guidance  and 
teachings  of  men — all  this,  from  1830  to  1840,  had 
been  preparing  a  crisis  in  the  religious  life  of  Eng- 
land. '  There  was  no*  balm  in  Gilead,  no  physician 


OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO.  271 

tbere.'  Multitudes  of  thoughtful  and  earnest  men 
.were  seeking  for  some  mind,  some  voice,  some  guide, 
some  teacher  to  lead  them  in  the  way  of  truth  and 
life.  And  as  the  crisis  had  been  preparing  for  him, 
•rO  he  had  been  prepared  to  meet  it. 

The  first  stratum  of  his  mind,  if  I  may  so  speak, 
tvas  deeply  tinged  by  the  soil  in  which  he  was  born. 
There  was  about  him,  to  the  end  of  life,  a  certain 
grandeur  of  conception  in  all  that  related  to  the 
works,  the  creations,  and  worship  of  the  Church, 
which  is  evidently  from.  Catholic  Spain.  His  pious 
mother  laid  him  as  an  infant  upon  the  altar  of  the 
Blessed  Mother  of  God  in  the  Cathedral  of  Seville. 
His  aims  and  designs  for  the  service  of  the  Church 
overleaped  the  measure  of  ordinary  minds.  He  had 
been  born  in  an  atmosphere  of  Catholic  splendour, 
and  all  his  conceptions  and  visions  of  the  sanctuary 
were  as  he  had  seen  it  in  childhood,  and  as  it  ought 
to  be,  rather  than  as  it  is  in  the  chill  and  utilitarian- 
ism of  modern  England. 

Upon  that  came  another  formation.  The  educa- 
tion of  St.  Cuthbert's  College,  at  Ushaw,  made  him 
the  solid,  manly  Englishman,  of  whom  Englishmen 
have  learned  to  be  proud.  He  described  himself,  in 
a  little  unpublished  poem  which  bears  the  marks  of 
the  heavy  hand  of  sickness  visibly  upon  it,  as  'a 


272  OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO. 

lone  unmurmuring  boy,'  who  studied  while  others 
played,  who  could  find  no  pastime  so  sweet  as  a 
book.  The  other  day,  a  house  by  the  roadside  be- 
tween TJshaw  and  Durham  was  pointed  out  to  me, 
into  which  Nicholas  Wiseman  was  once  driven  by  a 
heavy  storm  of  rain.  It  was  there,  and  at  that  time, 
that  his  first  grave  and  deliberate  thought  of  the 
priesthood  came  upon  him.  It  was,  therefore,  the 
hour  and  place  of  his  vocation.  Who  could  have 
ever  dreamed  of  the  career  of  light  of  which  that 
thought  was  the  first  spark  ? 

But  there  was  another  and  more  vital  formation 
yet  to  come.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  went  to 
Rome.  This  was  the  turning-point  of  his  life. 

He  has  often  told  me  that  in  those  daj^s  he  was  a 
light  and  short  sleeper ;  a  habit  which  in  after  years 
told  heavily  upon  him.  He  would  study  through 
the  night,  sometimes  he  would  walk  to  and  fro  in 
the  corridors  of  the  College.  While  others  slept  in 
the  heat  of  midday,  he  was  at  his  books.  Great  and 
facile  as  his  powers  were,  he  was  a  laborious  stu- 
dent. Few  men  ever  traded  more  watchfully  and 
industriously  with  the  talents  intrusted  to  them. 

All  this  time,  he  was  being  fashioned  for  the  mis- 
sion on  which  he  was  to  go.  He  was  gazing  upon 
the  pattern  in  the  Mount,  on  the  outline  and  the 


03INIA  PRO  CHRISTO.  273 

splendour  and  the  beauty  of  the  Church  of  God  in 
its  unity,  universality,  and  diversity,  as  it  can  be 
seen  only  in  and  around  the  Holy  See.  In  no  other 
place  is  this  lesson  to  be  learned  as  in  Rome.  It  is, 
under  the  new  law,  what  Jerusalem  was  under  the 
old — the  city  of  the  Incarnation,  the  home  of  the 
Word  made  flesh,  the  especial  patrimony  of  the  Son 
of  God,  who  reigns  by  His  Vicar  in  Rome,  and  from 
thence  throughout  the  world.  Rome  is  the  last 
spot  which  is  held  by  Christianity  in  all  its  fulness, 
and  in  all  the  royalties  of  Jesus.  Free,  independ- 
ent, and  therefore  sovereign,  the  Holy  See  owns  no 
master  upon  earth.  It  is  the  exclusive  throne  of 
a  Sovereign  who  is  in  heaven.  It  is  also  the  city 
of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  which  in  three  hundred 
churches  fills  and  pervades  Rome  with  its  presence, 
and  with  the  radiant  fragrance  of  the  holy  Name. 
It  is  especially  the  home  of  the  Blessed  Mother  of 
God.  Her  name  and  her  form  are  to  be  seen  in  all 
its  streets,  in  the  palaces  of  the  rich,  in  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  poor,  shedding  abroad  '  the  fragrance  of 
cinnamon  and  the  odour  of  the  balsam.'1  It  is  the 
city  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  reigns  with 
the  prerogatives  which  Jesus  communicated  to  the 
chief  of  His  Apostles. 

1  Ecclus.  zxiv.  20. 

T 


274  OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO. 

There  Nicholas  Wiseman  studied  for  twenty  years. 
There  he  dwelt  under  the  shadow,  or  rather  within 
the  light,  of  the  Pontiffs.  There,  too,  he  lived  in 
the  midst  of  martyrs  and  Saints,  of  whom  in  after 
life  his  mind  was  ever  full.  Their  relics  and  their 
sanctuaries  were  his  cherished  study. 

And  lastly,  it  was  there  that  he  entered  into  the 
light  of  the  great  theology,  or  science  of  God,  which 
in  Rome  is  in  its  focus,  and  is  enunciated  hy  the 
living  tradition  of  a  language,  which  men  count  as 
dead,  but  Eome  speaks  as  its  mother  tongue  from 
the  hour  when  the  Apostles  preached  until  this  day. 
All  this  complex  manifestation  of  the  Divine  pre- 
sence, surrounded  by  beauty  and  splendour,  by  the 
visible  witnesses  of  the  prerogatives  of  Jesus,  of  the 
diversity,  fertility,  unity,  universality  of  the  Church 
seen  from  its  centre — all  this  constituted  the  pat- 
tern which  impressed  itself  indelibly  and  in  all  its 
fulness  of  outline  and  detail  upon  his  reason  and 
imagination. 

It  was  then  and  there  that  he  conceived  the  great 
idea,  vision,  dream — call  it  what  you  will — of  the 
conversion  of  England,  and  then  that  he  offered  him- 
self to  it.  As  h.e  has  often  told  me,  he  would  go 
by  night  into  the  chapel  of  the  English  College,  and 
all  alone  pour  out  his  heart  in  prayers  and  tears, 


OMNIA  PRO  CHBISTO.  275 

full  of  aspirations,  and  of  a  firm  trust ;  of  prompt- 
ings to  go,  but  of  fear  to  outrun  the  bidding  of  our 
divine  Master.  He  was  wont  to  offer  himself,  and 
to  pray  that,  if  needed,  he  might  be  called ;  if  not 
needed,  that  he  might  never  do  anything  unbidden. 
It  was  then  that  he  drew  up  a  series  of  Latin 
prayers  for  the  conversion  of  England,  which  have 
been  used  until  late  years,  day  by  day,  before  the 
Blessed  Sacrament,  in  the  chapel  of  the  English 
College. 

Perhaps  there  is  hardly  anything  in  his  life 
which  has  so  called  down  upon  him  the  reproach  of 
a  visionary  and  a  dreamer,  over -sanguine,  unprac- 
tical, and  self-deceiving.  Let  us  examine  what  the 
conversion  of  England  means ;  for  we  shall  have  to 
speak  of  it  again  before  we  have  done.  What  was  it 
but  the  burning  desire  to  see  the  country  which  he 
loved  so  well  once  more  in  union  with  all  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  in  the  unity  of  His  kingdom  ?  He 
longed  to  see  all  religious  controversies  extinct,  all 
bitterness  turned  into  sweetness,  all  divisions  healed, 
•  all  the  miserable  rents  in  households  reunited  in  the 
unity  of  faith  and  the  bonds  of  peace,  all  his  coun- 
trymen kneeling  before  the  same  altar,  embracing 
one  another  in  the  kiss  of  peace  ;  all  the  strifes  and 
variances  of  life  softened  and  mitigated  by  the  law  of 


276  OMXIA  PRO  CHRISTO. 

love  and  the  mutual  bonds  of  Christian  brotherhood. 
There  was  nothing  very  unreal  in  all  this ;  nothing 
very  aggressive,  or  hostile,  or  intrusive  in  such  a 
prayer  and  in  such  a  purpose.  On  what  was  it 
founded  but  on  faith  in  the  revelation  of  God,  in  the 
words,  God  '  would  have  all  men  to  be  saved  and  to 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth ;'  and  on  hope 
that  God  would  once  more  revive  His  work  in  the 
midst  of  our  days,  rising  into  confidence  that  what 
God  wills  He  can  do ;  that  in  one  moment,  as  He 
breathed  upon  Rome,  and  the  empire  turned  towards 
Him  like  the  rivers  of  the  south,  so  He  may  again 
call  to  the  Spirit  from  the  four  winds  to  blow  upon 
the  valley  of  the  dry  bones,  and  they  shall  stand 
upon  their  feet  and  live?  It  was  founded  also  on 
charity,  on  the  love  of  God  and  of  Jesus,  and  of  the 
souls  for  whom  Ho  died,  which  makes  sin  and  un- 
belief, schism  and  heresy,  more  piercing  and  agonis- 
ing than  wounds  which  rend  the  flesh.  There  was 
surely  nothing  in  this  desire  and  prayer  that  a  good 
man  ought  not  to  cherish ;  nothing  for  which  a  Chris- 
tian, if  he  be  a  true  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  not  * 
bound  to  pray ;  and  to  promote  not  only  by  word  and 
deed,  but  even  by  the  sacrifice  of  life. 

Such,  then,  were  the  desires  which  burned  within 
him,  and  such  the  ultimate  form  with  which  Spain 


OMNIA  PKO  CHEISTO.  277 

and  England  and  Rome  bad  progressively  invested 
Ins  soul ;  the  measures  of  which,  natural  and  super- 
natural, in  a  signal  degree  surpassed  the  stature  of 
ordinary  men. 

It  was  at  such  a  moment  that  Nicholas  Wiseman 
appeared  in  England.  He  had  indeed  in  1835  begun 
to  survey  the  field  upon  which  the  issue  of  battle 
was  to  be  tried.  He  had  spoken  to  English  ears 
and  to  English  hearts,  and  they  had  listened  and 
believed.  But  the  time  was  not  yet.  He  returned 
for  another  period  of  retirement  to  Rome,  and  there 
in  secret  matured  his  purpose  of  apostolic  charity  to 
our  country.  The  Sovereign  Pontiff,  Gregory  XVI., 
who  well  knew  his  singular  merits,  as  I  am  credibly 
assured,  had  already  in  secret  destined  him  for  the 
dignity  of  the  Sacred  College.  But  he  had  other 
thoughts  burning  within  him.  As  he  has  often  told 
me  with  his  own  lips,  he  offered  to  the  Holy  Father 
to  resign  the  office  of  Rector  of  the  English  College, 
and  the  career  to  which  it  led,  and  to  return  to  Eng- 
land for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  secular  congrega- 
tion of  missionary  priests.  One  who  knew  him  with 
the  intimacy  and  love  of  a  son,  who  hears  me  now, 
has  told  me  that  he  received  from  him  the  following 
statement :  'One  day,'  he  said,  '  having  to  wait  at  the 
Sapienza  for  the  Hebrew  lecture,  I  went  to  pray  in 


278  03INIA  PRO  CHRISTO. 

the  Church  of  St.  Eustachio,  where  the  most  Holy 
Sacrament  is  reserved  upon  the  altar  of  our  Imma- 
culate Mother;  and  I  thought  that  as  the  English 
nation,  in  the  solemn  oath  imposed  upon  the  chief 
personages  in  the  State,  abjures  these  two  mysteries, 
it  was  my  duty  to  labour  for  them  in  England.' 

It  was  about  this  time  the  Sovereign  Pontiff 
chose  him  to  be  coadjutor  to  one  of  the  Vicars-apos- 
tolic, and  in  the  retreat  before  his  consecration  he 
wrote  down  a  list  of  works  which  he  purposed  by 
God's  help  to  accomplish  in  England.  He  has  told 
me,  from  time  to  time,  that  each  head  upon  the  list 
was  disappearing.  In  his  last  days,  the  last  was 
morally  accomplished. 

Then  opened  the  active  period  of  his  life,  from 
1840  to  1860 — twenty  years  of  vigour  and  intellect, 
and  of  power  in  the  maturity  of  reason  and  resolu- 
tion of  will.  It  was  a  noble  time,  to  which  it  would 
be  hard  to  find  a  parallel.  The  first  ten  years  of 
it  were  chiefly  spent  in  a  work  for  which  he  was 
eminently  prepared,  the  intellectual  discernment  and 
appreciation  of  the  movement  and  confusion  into 
which  the  Emancipation  had  cast  the  educated  minds 
of  England.  To  this  period  may  be  referred  some 
of  his  most  valuable  theological  essays,  which  have, 
under  God,  led  multitudes  onward  in  the  path  of 


OMXIA  PEO  CHEISTO.  279 

divine  faith.  The  dream  of  the  conversion  of  Eng- 
land began  to  take  form  and  substance.  Many  good 
and  prudent  men  looked  at  the  same  horizon,  and 
saw  no  signs,  no  harbinger  of  the  morrow.  They 
treated  the  Bishop  of  Melipotamus  as  sanguine 
and  visionary,  whom  hope  had  distempered.  They 
saw  nothing  in  England  but  the  hard  surface  of  the 
earth  seared  by  the  old  storms  of  religious  contro- 
versy which  had  furrowed  the  land.  He  saw  beneath 
the  surface,  and  discerned  the  delicate  and  vivid 
lines  of  new  habits  of  thought,  new  aspirations  after 
an  inheritance  which  had  been  forfeited  by  the  sin 
of  others.  At  this  time  it  was  he  wrote  one  of  his 
most  noble-hearted  letters,  in  which,  with  great  gen- 
tleness, implying  but  not  expressing  what  he  endured, 
he  says : 

'  If  one  must  err,  if  in  mere  tribute  to  humanity 
one  must  needs  make  a  false  step,  one's  fall  will  be 
more  easy  when  on  the  side  of  two  theological  vir- 
tues, than  when  on  the  cold  bare  earth  of  human 
prudence.  If  I  shall  have  been  both  too  hopeful  in 
my  motives,  and  too  charitable  in  my  dealings,  I 
will  take  my  chance  of  smiles  at  my  simplicity,  both 
on  earth  and  in  heaven.  Those  of  the  latter  at  least 
are  never  scornful.' 

But  it  was  the  ten  years  from  1850  to  18CO 


280  OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO. 

which  have  indelibly  inscribed  the  name  of  the  Car- 
dinal Archbishop  of  Westminster  in  the  annals  of 
England.  In  1850,  the  renewed  Catholic  Hierarchy 
in  England  was  created  by  Pius  IX.,  as  the  ancient 
Hierarchy  had  been  created  by  St.  Gregory  I.  "What 
the  pontifical  power  had  done  once,  out  of  the  pleni- 
tude of  its  imperishable  prerogatives,  it  did  again. 
The  Bishop  of  Melipotamus  became  the  first  Arch- 
bishop of  Westminster  and  Cardinal  Priest  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Church.  The  hurricane  which  swept 
over  the  land  we  can  all  remember.  We  remem- 
ber, too,  the  pastoral  letter  to  his  flock.  But  I  will 
not  now  revive  so  much  as  a  trace  of  the  confusion 
which  is  year  by  year  mellowing  and  sinking  out  of 
sight  in  the  kindlier  light  of  calmer  and  happier 
days.  Let  me,  however,  ask  one  question.  How 
was  it  that  the  same  race  of  men,  who  tut  ten  years 
before  filled  England  with  sarcasm  when  a  states- 
man dated  his  letter  from  the  castle  of  his  sovereign, 
should  have  failed  to  see  that  no  Pastor  of  the 
Church,  save  only  its  august  Head,  can  date  from 
within  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Eome  ?  And  yet  such 
formalities,  through  popular  ignorance,  are  enough  in 
an  atmosphere  and  in  an  age  of  prejudice  to  poison 
and  pervert  the  minds  of  men. 

That  pastoral  letter,  read,  as  I  read  it  a  day  ago, 


OMXIA  PRO  CHPJSTO.  231 

under  the  roof  where  the  hand  that  wrote  it  lay  calm 
in  death,  sounds  to  me  as -a  noble  proclamation  of  a 
noble  deed,  uttered  in  language  commensurate  to  a 
reality  to  which  the  history  of  England  for  twelve 
hundred  years  has  nothing  proportionate.  It  is  sim- 
ple truth  that  by  that  act,  *  your  beloved  country 
has  received  a  place  among  the  fair  churches  which, 
normally  constituted,  form  the  splendid  aggre- 
gate of  Catholic  communion.  Catholic  England  has 
been  restored  to  its  orbit  in  the  ecclesiastical  firma- 
ment, from  which  its  light  had  long  vanished ;  and 
begins  now  anew  its  course  of  regularly  adjusted 
action  round  the  centre  of  unity,  the  source  of 
jurisdiction,  of  light,  and  of  power.'  Every  year 
which  has  passed  since  then  has  proved  this  truth. 
What  the  last  fifteen  have  begun,  the  next  fifty  will 
manifest  with  a  more  luminous  evidence  of  light, 
order,  and  perpetuity.  But  I  have  no  time  to  dwell 
on  these  things.  Personal  topics  will  be  more  in 
place,  and  they  are  more  in  number  than  I  can 
enumerate.  Still  one  word,  before  I  part  with  the 
Catholic  Hierarchy  of  England.  This  great  Pastor 
of  the  flock  knew  his  country  when  he  uttered  words 
which  read  now  like  prophecy.  After  a  noble  la- 
mentation on  the  intemperate  speech  of  those  who 
should  have  calmly  reigned  from  the  silent  tribunals 


282  01DJIA  PRO  CHEISTO. 

of  justice,  he  broke  out :  '  When  the  very  highest 
judicial  authority  has  prejudged,  and  cut  off  all 
appeal  from  us,  what  resource  have  we  yet  left  ? 
what  hope  of  justice  ?  One  in  which,  after  God's 
unfailing  providence,  we  place  unbounded  confidence. 
There  still  remains  the  manly  sense  and  honest  heart 
of  a  generous  people ;  that  love  of  honourable  deal- 
ing and  fair  play,  which,  in  joke  or  in  earnest,  is 
equally  the  instinct  of  an  Englishman ;  that  hatred 
of  all  mean  advantage  taken,  of  all  base  tricks  and 
paltry  claptraps  and  party  cries  employed  to  hunt 
down  even  a  rival  or  a  foe. 

'  To  this  open-fronted  and  Avarm-hearted  tribunal 
I  make  my  appeal,  and  claim,  on  behalf  of  myself 
and  my  fellow-Catholics,  a  fair,  free,  and  impartial 
hearing.  Fellow- subjects,  Englishmen,  be  you  at 
least  just  and  equitable.  You  have  been  deceived — 
you  have  been  misled,  both  as  to  facts  and  as  to 
intentions.  I  will  be  plain  and  simple,  but  straight- 
forward and  bold.  I  will  be  brief  also,  as  far  as  I 
can,  but  as  explicit  as  may  be  necessary.'  And  he 
has  not  been  deceived  in  his  hope. 

I  will  not  now  attempt  to  recite  the  course  of 
these  ten  years,  in  which  the  Cardinal  Archbishop, 
surrounded  by  his  twelve  suffragans,  traced  out  once 
more  upon  the  soil  of  England  the  limits  of  a  new 


OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO.  283 

order,  into  which  the  influx  of  the  Universal  Church, 
both  from  its  centre  and  from  its  circumference,  en- 
ters in  all  the  fulness  of  infallible  truth  and  super- 
natural power.  It  would  be  out  of  time  and  place 
to  dwell  upon  the  gradual  and  steady  formation  of 
thirteen  dioceses,  ever  expanding  from  their  centres, 
and  multiplying  every  kind  of  spiritual  life  and  fruit- 
fulness  :  or  upon  the  Councils  of  Westminster,  pro- 
vincial and  diocesan,  which  have  sat  and  legislated 
with  the  unerring  instinct  and  plastic  wisdom  of 
the  living  Church  of  God.  There  is  but  one  word 
T  will  add.  In  these  last  days,  I  have  read  again 
and  again  such  words  as  these :  '  Great  beginnings 
doomed  to  a  great  disappointment.  Lofty  under- 
takings, and,  it  must  be  confessed,  closed  by  a  signal 
failure.'  Not  so  fast,  men  of  this  world;  not  so 
lordly  and  confident,  wise  and  prudent  of  the  earth. 
The  ploughing  of  December  may  be  drenched  with 
the  rains  of  January,  and  the  February  snows  hide 
all  things  from  the  eyes  of  men.  But  the  sweat  of 
the  ploughman  and  of  the  sower  is  not  in  vain ; 
there  is  a  life  in  the  sod,  a  stature,  a  symmetry,  an 
expansion,  and  a  maturity  deep  down,  out  of  sight, 
coiled  together  and  yet  unfolding  in  silence.  There 
must  yet  come  binding  frosts,  and  scourging  hail,  and 
raving  winds ;  but  the  summer's  sun  and  the  autumn 


28-1  OMNIA  PEO  CHRISTO. 

fruits  arc  sure  as  the  march  of  time,  the  changes  of 
day  and  night.  You  have  it  in  an  old  book — not 
much  read,  it  may  be,  in  these  days  of  light : 

'  As  the  rain  and  the  snow  come  down  from  hea- 
ven, and  return  no  more  thither,  but  soak  the  earth, 
and  water  it,  and  make  it  to  spring,  and  give  seed  to 
the  sower,  and  bread  to  the  eater,  so  shall  My  word 
be,  which  shall  go  forth  from  My  mouth;  it  shall 
not  return  to  Me  void,  but  it  shall  do  whatsoever 
I  please,  and  shall  prosper  in  the  things  for  which 
I  sent  it.'2 

And  again :  '  The  husbandman  waiteth  for  the 
precious  fruit  of  the  earth ;  patiently  bearing  till  he 
receive  the  early  and  latter  rain.  Be  you  therefore 
also  patient,  and  strengthen  your  hearts  ;  for  the 
coming  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand.'3 

The  conversion  of  England !  Do  men  think  that 
we  expect  the  twenty  millions  of  Englishmen  to  lie 
down  Protestants  at  night,  and  to  wake  up  Catholics 
in  the  morning  ?  Do  they  so  little  know  the  calm 
\visdom  of  the  illustrious  dead  who  lies  here,  the 
centre  of  our  veneration  and  of  our  love,  as  to  think 
that  he  was  such  a  dreamer  of  day-dreams,  so  unreal 
and  fantastic  in  his  hopes  ?  He  was  a  believer  like 
one  who  for  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  built  the 
*  Isaias  Iv.  10.  *  St.  James  v.  7.  8. 


OMNIA  PRO  CHEISTO.  285 

ark ;  and  a  hoper  like  him  who  all  alone  entered  im- 
perial Rome  a  simple  fisherman,  but  the  Vicar  of  the 
Son  of  God. 

Such  were  his  expectations ;  and  when  he  closed 
his  eyes  upon  England,  he  had  already  seen  the 
work  he  had  begun  expanding  everywhere,  and  the 
traditions  of  three  hundred  years  everywhere  dis- 
solving before  it.  Time  is  not  with  the  Church  of 
God.  Converging  lines  may  stretch  beyond  our 
sight,  and  overpass  the  horizon;  but  they  must 
intersect  at  last.  So  with  the  work  of  grace  upon 
the  country  of  our  birth  and  of  our  love :  its  deso- 
lations are  not  for  ever. 

Thus  far  he  saw  accomplished.  Much  that  he 
had  pondered  and  intended  is  indeed  gone  with 
the  great  mind  which  was  ever  at  work  for  the 
Church  and  for  England.  They  who  were  about 
him  in  these  last  five  years,  when  the  weight  of 
mortal  disease  began  to  weigh  upon  him,  will  know 
with  what  a  creative  fertility  he  was  ever  forming 
to  himself  new  intentions  for  works  of  usefulness, 
charity,  and  piety.  The  last  five  years  were  like  the 
hours  of  a  still  afternoon,  when  the  work  of  the  day 
begins  to  linger,  and  the  silence  of  evening  is  near. 
He  seemed  to  be  resting  after  twenty  years  of  active 
toil.  It  was  a  time  of  survey  and  of  reflection  ;  and 


236  01IXIA  PRO  CHRISTO. 

with  those  who  were  about  him,  he  used  often  to  go 
over  the  past,  and  cast  up  the  changes  he  had  seen. 
He  knew  too  well  what  the  work  of  the  Church  is 
upon  men — especially  in  a  country  such  as  this — to 
expect  great  and  sudden  changes,  like  landslips  or 
inundations.  But  his  eye  traced  keenly  and  surely 
the  outline  of  the  Pattern  in  the  Mount,  which  had 
been  the  rule  and  original  in  all  his  labour.  He 
could  see  its  symmetry  and  its  proportions  emerging 
from  the  spiritual  wilderness  around  him.  And  he 
has  bequeathed  to  you,  each  in  your  sphere,  the  duty 
of  carrying  onward  to  its  perfection  the  work  of  which 
he  was  the  chief  master-builder. 

It  would  seem  to  me,  that  in  the  career  of  this 
great  Pastor  of  the  Church  there  are  four  principles 
or  laws  which  he  diffused  in  life,  and  has  bequeathed 
to  us  in  death. 

The  first  is  a  filial  love  to  the  Vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ.  With  him  it  was  an  instinct  and  an  affec- 
tion. It  was  not  merely  a  dictate  of  reason  and  of 
theology,  but  a  love  of  his  heart.  His  twenty  years 
in  Rome  made  the  person  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  an 
habitual  vision  to  him,  which  governed  all  his  life. 
In  his  book  on  the  four  last  Popes,  he  has  said 
Ultramontanism  is  not  so  much  a  peculiar  form  of 
opinion  as  a  singular  love  of  the  Vicar  of  our  Lord. 


OMNIA  PRO  CHEISTO.  287 

This  feeling  he  bore,  in  all  its  tenderness  and  devo- 
tion, to  the  person  of  Pius  the  Ninth,  to  whom  every 
affection  of  his  heart  bound  him.  He  never  named 
him  without  a  veneration  which  was  perceptible  to 
all. 

Next  was  a  special  love  of  sinners.  His  birthday 
was  the  festival  of  St.  Alphonsus,  to  whom,  as  the 
Apostle  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance,  and  of  the 
spirit  of  benignness  to  sinners,  he  had  an  especial 
devotion.  He  was  formed  upon  the  same  model, 
and  he  loved  the  generosity  of  heart  which  our  Lord 
enjoins  in  the  words,  '  Freely  have  ye  received,  freely 
give.'  He  expressed  his  own  character  when,  to  a 
religious  who  was  about  to  give  a  retreat  to  priests, 
he  said,  '  Do  all  in  your  power  to  make  them  large- 
hearted  and  benign  in  giving  absolution  to  sinners.' 

Thirdly,  he  has  in  all  his  life  testified  to  the 
supremacy  of  faith,  of  doctrine,  pure  and  inflexible 
as  emanating  from  a  divine  Teacher,  and  refusing 
all  compromise  with  the  opinions  of  men.  In  the  theo- 
logy of  the  world,  doubt  is  held  to  be  the  legitimate  pa- 
rent of  faith.  In  the  theology  of  the  Church,  faith  is  a 
gift  of  God  which  excludes  the  possibility  of  doubt. 
To  have  doubted  is  supposed  by  the  world  to  be  the 
necessary  condition  of  perfect  faith;  never  to  have 
doubted  is,  in  the  ways  of  God,  the  highest  maturity 


288  OMXIA  PEO  CHEISTO. 

of  faith.  When,  then,  I  say  that  our  great  pastor 
and  teacher  had  never  doubted  of  any  article  of  the 
revelation  of  God,  but  that  the  infused  grace  of  faith 
grew  up  in  him  and  with  him  to  a  solidity  and 
maturity  which  formed  a  part  of  his  life,  a  second 
consciousness  of  his  spiritual  being,  I  do  not  mean 
that  he  had  not  faced  and  handled,  tested  and 
weighed,  the  doubts  of  other  men.  He  has  often 
told  me  of  the  period  of  suffering,  amounting  to  a 
kind  of  agony,  which  he  endured  in  Rome  while 
reading  the  German  rationalistic  criticisms  on  Holy 
Scripture,  through  which  pain  he  believed  himself 
bound  to  pass,  like  Him  who  was  his  divine  example, 
that  he  might  succour  them  also  that  were  tempted. 
And  yet  not  so  much  as  a  doubt  fastened  on  him. 
When  he  came  forth  from  the  furnace,  the  smell  of 
the  fire  was  not  upon  his  raiment.  And  this  adds 
a  wonderful  emphasis  to  one  of  the  noblest  acts  of 
his  life,  when,  in  obedience  to  the  pontifical  law,  he 
summoned  his  Chapter  about  his  dying  bed,  and, 
vested  in  his  insignia  as  a  Prince  of  the  Church, 
made  his  profession  of  faith,  and,  kissing  the  holy 
Gospels,  testified  that  in  all  his  life  he  had  faith- 
fully held  and  taught,  and  never  doubted  any  one  of 
those  articles,  and  that  he  desired  to  transmit  the 
faith  intact  and  inviolate  to  his  successor. 


O3INIA  PRO  CHRISTO.  289 

Lastly,  he  has  bequeathed  to  our  custody  one 
more  great  principle  most  vital  in  these  days:  that 
is,  the  harmony  of  revealed  and  natural  truth,  and 
the  unity  of  Catholic  culture.  The  first  work  which 
made  his  name  celebrated  was  the  Connection  of 
Science  and  Revealed  Religion;  and  to  this  great 
thesis  he  remained  faithful  to  the  end.  His  last 
studies,  I  may  say,  were  upon  it.  For  some  time 
past  he  had  been  collecting  materials  for  a  new  essay 
upon  the  relation  of  modern  sciences  to  faith.  He 
had  formed  to  himself  the  purpose  of  writing  a 
series  of  Pastoral  Letters,  to  be  read  from  Septua- 
gesirna  to  Easter,  treating  of  this  theme  as  a  frontier 
traced  about  the  faith  of  his  flock,  which  is,  in  these 
days  and  in  this  city,  perpetually  assailed  by  the 
specious  and  pretentious  menaces  of  superficial  sci- 
ence. At  this  time  his  voice  would  have  been  heard 
among  us.  But  God  has  willed  it  otherwise. 

Among  his  last  and  most  anxious  thoughts 
springing  from  this  subject  was  the  intellectual  tra- 
dition of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  the  method  of 
teaching  and  of  study  by  which  that  tradition  of  truth 
is  kept  pure  and  undefiled.  This  was  but  the  practical 
application  of  the  early  principles  of  his  youth  to  the 
last  duties  of  his  pastoral  office ;  and  he  left  to  us  as 
his  last  injunction  to  preserve  unsullied  the  streams 

D 


290  OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO. 

of  spiritual  and  of  intellectual  culture,  which,  though 
distinct,  are  intimately  blended  in  the  tradition  of 
Catholic  training,  and  descend  in  the  unity  of  the 
Church  from  age  to  age,  refusing  all  intermixture 
or  contact  with  foreign  and  alien  methods  of  edu- 
cation. 

Such  is  the  outline  of  the  bequest  he  has  left 
us  :  the  love  of  Rome,  the  love  of  sinners,  the  su- 
premacy of  faith,  the  purity  of  Catholic  education. 
It  was  the  school  in  which  lie  had  been  formed. 
From  it  he  derived  the  completeness  and  equable  ex- 
pansion of  mind  which  gave  him  a  signal  elevation 
above  other  men. 

But  I  am  conscious  that  hitherto  I  have  spoken 
of  him  only  as  he  was  seen  by  the  eye,  and  measured 
by  external  observation  as  a  great  Pastor  and  Prince 
of  the  Church.  His  true  greatness  remains  to  be 
told.  It  was  not  upon  his  outward  form,  like  his  pon- 
tifical array,  but  deep  in  the  soul,  hard  to  reach,  and 
truly  known  by  few.  His  true  grandeur  was  not 
in  what  he  knew,  nor  in  what  he  did,  but  in  what 
he  was — in  the  gifts  and  in  the  culture  of  his  head 
and  heart.  Few  men  have,  perhaps,  ever  been  so 
little  understood;  few  men  so  widely  misunderstood. 
Among  many  kindly  and  generous  words  from  other 
hands,  it  has  been  a  strange  phenomenon  in  these 


OMNIA  TRO  CHIUSTO.  201 

last  days  to  read  the  description  and  estimate  that 
one  public  critic  has  made  of  him.  It  would  grato 
upon  our  ears  to  recite  it  in  this  place.  But  one 
point  I  must  notice.  One  who  desired  to  be  exqui- 
sitely discerning  has  told  us,  that  in  the  exercise  of 
his  intellectual  gifts  he  was  impelled  by  a  desire  to 
display  a  universality  of  acquirements ;  that  he  de- 
sired to  be  theologian,  philosopher,  poet,  critic  in 
art,  man  of  science,  and  the  like ;  that  all  this  was 
the  result  of  conscious  aim  and  studied  intention. 
Now,  nothing  can  be  less  true.  The  very  reverse 
is  the  truth.  Nothing  was  ever  more  unconscious, 
natural,  inevitable,  than  the  exercise  of  his  great 
and  versatile  gifts.  His  works  were  exacted  of  him 
by  his  duties,  drawn  from  him  by  the  necessities  of 
his  state,  or  prompted  by  the  simplest  kindliness  of 
heart.  No  man  was  more  spontaneous  and  uncon- 
scious than  he,  in  many  of  those  things  which  have 
made  for  him  a  celebrated  name.  His  works,  which, 
when  clustered  together,  present  a  wonderful  com- 
bination of  the  most  various  and  graceful  intellectual 
gifts,  were  elicited  from  him  almost  without  his  will. 
His  first  writings,  composed  in  Rome,  were  perhaps 
the  most  studied  works  of  his  life.  And  we  have  it 
from  one  who  was  daily  at  his  side,  that,  while  writ- 
ing his  books,  he  would  escape  from  the  English 


292  OMNIA  PRO  CHIIISTO. 

College  before  the  morning  meditation,  and  go  to  the 
Roman  College  to  ask  the  Fathers  whether  he  ought 
not,  through  fear  of  vanity,  to  cease  from  writing 
altogether.  His  work  on  science  and  revealed  reli- 
gion was  written  for  his  students;  so  also  the  lec- 
tures on  the  Holy  Eucharist.  The  lectures  on  the 
Doctrines  and  Practices  of  the  Catholic  Church  were 
preached  from  this  very  place  as  a  missionary.  His 
theological  controversies  were  forced  from  him  by 
the  Tracts  for  the  Times.  Fabiola,  the  most  beau- 
tiful creation  of  his  mind,  was  written  at  the  request 
of  others,  to  help  in  providing  a  series  of  Catholic 
popular  books.  His  little  dramas  were  written  to 
amuse  children  at  school;  his  popular  lectures  for 
the  kindly  and  warm-hearted  purpose  of  giving  plea- 
sure to  the  English  people.  The  last  act  of  his  life, 
by  which  his  failing  strength  was  over-taxed,  was  to 
prepare  a  lecture  on  a  subject  dear  to  this  country. 
"What  can  be  conceived  more  benevolent,  unconscious, 
and  unostentatious  than  such  an  exercise  of  such 
noble  gifts  ?  He  went  like  the  sower,  casting  the 
seed  as  the  time  required ;  hardly  knowing  how,  or 
when,  or  why,  save  only  that  it  was  the  work  of  his 
life  to  use  his  powers  for  the  welfare  and  the  happi- 
ness of  others.  Thus  much  I  have  thought  it  well 
to  say  of  his  intellectual  gifts.  But  I  say  no  more, 


OMNIA  PRO  CHEISTO.  298 

because  they  were  the  least  things  about  him.  There 
are  greater  things  to  say.  The  true  grandeur  of  his 
character  was  the  most  concealed.  It  may  perhaps 
surprise  many  to  be  told  that  of  all  men  he  was 
the  most  reserved.  He  had  the  shyness  of  a  child. 
There  was  something  beautiful  to  see  a  man  so  highly 
endowed,  so  highly  exalted,  the  object  of  the  rever- 
ence of  nations,  superior  by  head  and  shoulders  to 
those  who  were  about  him,  yet  as  bashful  as  a  youth. 
Oftentimes  the  very  reverse  was  by  misinterpretation 
imputed  to  him. 

Now  here  we  approach  the  real  greatness  of  his 
nature.  It  has  been  said,  'Ille  vere  magnus  est, 
qui  magnam  habet  charitatem.'  And  this  greatness 
was  his ;  for  his  charity  was  of  an  antique  kind,  such 
as  we  read  of,  but  seldom  see.  There  were  two 
classes  to  whom  he  chiefly  showed  it  —  to  sinners 
and  to  little  children.  He  was  in  truth,  as  his 
Master  before  him,  '  the  friend  of  sinners.'  The 
most  fallen  and  lost  in  him  found  a  father.  It  will 
never  be  known,  until  the  day  when  all  penitents 
are  saved,  how  many  owe  their  souls  to  him. 

But  it  may  be  said  that,  until  he  was  seen  like 
our  divine  Lord,  hemrned-in  by  children,  it  never 
could  be  known  what  tenderness  was  in  his  heart. 
He  had  an  exquisite  attraction,  a  joyful  playfulness, 


294  OMNIA  PRO  CHPJSTO. 

an  irresistible  power  of  fascinating  children  by  a  flow 
of  childlike  mirth. 

There  were  also  two  other  kinds  of  people  who 
drew  from  him  his  special  compassion  —  the  sick, 
and  those  who  were  finding  their  way  towards  the 
true  fold.  While  in  the  English  College  in  Home, 
the  sick  were  his  portion.  By  common  consent,  he 
seemed  to  be  regarded  as  the  perpetual  nurse  and 
mfirniarian.  There  are  many  who  owe  their  lives 
to  him.  Some  there  are,  to  whom,  when  in  the 
height  of  his  dignity,  he  gave  up  his  own  room, 
and  nursed  them  in  his  own  bed,  and  in  the  end 
brought  them  back  from  the  brink  of  the  grave. 

While  Eector  of  the  English  College,  he  used 
to  go  to  hear  confessions  in  the  Hospital  of  Santo 
Spirito,  and  to  train  his  students  to  the  love  and 
care  of  the  sick.  I  well  remember  in  the  year  1888 
finding  him  in  the  midst  of  that  vast  hospital,  serv- 
ing the  sick  and  dying. 

Lastly,  for  those  who,  being  disinherited  of  the 
faith,  were  again  feeling  after  it,  he  had  a  great  and 
singular  tenderness.  He  had  never  known  what  it 
was  to  have  an  incoherent  theology  or  a  mutilated 
faith.  Nevertheless  he  could  sympathise  with  them, 
watch  over  them,  help  them  with  the  tenderest  hand, 
wait  for  them  with  unwearying  patience,  and  bestow 


OilXIA  PRO  CHEISTO.  295 

upon  them  in  full  all  the  graces  and  blessings  of 
the  Church  ;  as  the  father  restored  the  prodigal,  run- 
ning to  meet  him,  and  giving  again  all  that  he  had . 
before,  and  more  than  he  had  ever  lost. 

But  there  is  one  more  perfection  of  charity  which 
in  him  was  conspicuous.  I  never  heard  any  one  speak 
with  such  forbearance  of  others,  even  of  those  who 
deserved  the  severest  treatment.  I  have  watched 
him  checking  the  words  which  were  so  obvious  that 
it  seemed  impossible  to  repress  them ;  softening  down 
to  the  utmost  even  the  little  that  he  was  forced  to 
say. 

Another  grace  signally  marked  was  his  humility. 
A  soul  so  united  in  charity  with  God  could  not  fail 
to  have  a  profound  appreciation  and  a  luminous 
vision  of  the  Divine  Perfections.  The  singular  calm 
and  collectedness  with  which  he  acted  and  spoke, 
seemed  to  me  to  arise  from  the  sense  of  the  presence 
of  God.  The  thought  of  the  divine  sanctity,  jus- 
tice, and  perfection  was  evidently  with  him  at  all 
times.  And  in  the  light  of  these  attributes  he  saw 
himself — not  as  we  saw  him,  nor  invested  with  the 
apparels  of  his  pontifical  dignity,  but  as  God  saw 
him  always,  with  his  heart  open  in  secret. 

And  springing  from  these  was  another  grace,  the 
generosity  of  his  soul.  For  affliction  and  sorrow 


296  OMXIA  PRO  CHBISTO. 

ho  had  always  a  ready  sympathy,  but  seldom  tears. 
Yet  by  a  noble  action,  or  for  a  high  and  generous 
spirit,  he  was  moved  at  once  to  tears.  He  had  an 
instinctive  love  of  good,  and  a  quick  discernment  of 
it  in  others.  Perhaps  his  generosity  would  some- 
times make  him  believe  that  he  saw  goodness  when 
it  did  not  exist,  and  the  unworthy  had  the  bene- 
fit of  his  nobleness  of  heart.  He  had  the  greatest 
power  in  awakening  and  encouraging  what  was  good 
in  other  men,  and  in  setting  them  to  work  it  out. 
He  would  even  cast  the  germ  of  some  good  work 
into  the  minds  of  others,  and  then  help  them  to 
develop  it  as  if  it  were  their  own.  He  rejoiced  in 
their  works,  and  in  all  the  good  they  did. 

One  early  morning  in-  1860,  while  he  was  in 
Borne,  hovering  between  life  and  death,  after  the  ter- 
rific suffering  he  had  to  undergo,  he  said :  '  I  have 
not  slept  to-night,  but  I  have  been  very  quiet.  I 
have  spent,  the  time  in  examining  myself,  whether  I 
have  ever  hindered  any  good  being  done.  I  cannot . 
remember  that  I  have  ever  hindered  any  man  in 
doing  good.'  A  rare  and  noble  testimony,  which  few 
men  in  the  narrow  paths  of  our  life  could  bear ; 
much  less  they  who  are  the  centre  of  so  many  men 
and  so  many  minds  as  he. 

But  I  must  not  run  on  for  ever.     I  am  not  at- 


OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO.  297 

tempting  a  delineation  of  this  great  character,  but 
only  touching  a  few  of  its  chief  features.  I  will 
therefore  speak  only  of  his  endurance.  He  was  long- 
suffering  and  placable  in  a  rare  degree.  The  words 
of  our  divine  Lord,  '  seventy  times  seven,'  were  the 
rule  of  his  life.  If  any  had  wounded  him,  he  forgave 
as  if  he  had  never  suffered.  If  they  wounded  him 
again  and  again,  they  would  be  again  and  again 
forgiven. 

A  life  so  great,  and  so  wide-spread  in  its  contacts 
with  men  of  every  kind  and  with  works  so  manifold 
and  so  important,  could  not  fail  of  many  crosses.  It 
is  the  law  of  our  Master's  kingdom.  They  who  are 
nearest  to  Him  are  nearest  also  to  His  Cross.  They 
who  do  most  for  Him  suffer  most  in  His  service. 
The  service  and  the  suffering  are  commensurate.  It 
began  in  His  own  person  upon  Calvary.  It  has  been 
perpetuated  for  1800  j^ears  in  the  line  of  His  Vicars, 
suffering  and  reigning  from  the  See  and  from  the  Cross 
of  Peter.  The  Cathedra  Petri  rests  upon  the  Janicu- 
lum.  The  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westminster  was 
enveloped  in  the  warfare  which  surrounds  his  loved 
and  venerated  chief  and  father,  Pius  IX.  An  Epis- 
copate of  five-and-twenty  years,  almost  the  annos 
Petri,  gave  large  room  for  the  sorrows  and  tears  of 
the  apostolic  life.  The  '  lone  unmurmuring  boy'  be- 


298  OilNIA  PRO  CIIRISTO. 

came  the  calm,  majestic,  uncomplaining  Prince  of  the 
Church.  And  nothing  can  he  conceived  more  calm 
&TL/1  more  uncomplaining  than  the  large  and  loving 
heart  of  this  true  disciple  of  the  kingdom  and  pa- 
tience of  Jesus  Christ. 

This  was  most  signally  manifested  in  the  endur- 
ance with  which  he  hore  for  many  years  a  mortal 
disease,  ever  advancing,  consuming  his  strength 
and  life.  Men  little  thought  what  a  secret  suffering 
was  hid  under  the  pontifical  splendour  in  which  he 
seemed  the  very  type  of  stateliness  and  power.  A 
craving  and  a  thirst  dried  up  his  spirit.  A  per- 
petual consciousness  of  restless  malady  made  exer- 
tion painful  through  the  day.  Light  wakeful  sleep, 
hroken  rest,  over-active  thought,  made  his  nights  a 
weariness.  Yet,  through  all  this,  for  long  years,  he 
laboured  on  under  the  weight  of  hourly  suffering; 
only  those  who  were  nearest  to  him  knowing  what 
he  suffered. 

But  it  was  in  these  last  five  years,  which  may  he 
called  the  time  of  his  last  purification  for  a  better 
world,  that  his  great  endurance  was  most  luminously 
manifested. 

In  the  year  18GO,  during  his  last-  lengthened 
residence  in  Rome,  he  was  twice  on  the  point  of 
death :  once  by  a  disease  which  compelled  the  in- 


OMNIA  PEO  CHRISTO.  299 

fliction  of  a  terrible  surgical  operation.  I  was  sit- 
ting at  the  door  of  his  chamber,  not  knowing  what 
was  passing  within.  Two  long-drawn  breathings 
were  all  I  heard  when  the  work  of  the  knife  was  done. 
The  same  has  been  conspicuous  through  this  last 
season  of  death.  But  it  is  not  in  place  that  I  should 
dwell  upon  these  things  now.  Six  weeks  ago  I  left 
him,  restored  from  the  suffering  which  we  thought 
was  transient.  "When  we  parted,  he  was  standing  at 
the  threshold  of  his  room  in  the  full  height  of  his 
stature,  as  if  once  more  in  health.  And,  with  his 
benediction  and  embrace,  he  dismissed  me  —  to  see 
him,  I  may  say,  no  more.  What  passed  in  the 
month  which  followed,  you  already  know,  or  in  a 
more  fitting  way  will  know  hereafter.  We  had  so 
long  watched  him,  and  so  long  become  familiar  with 
his  dangers  and  his  recoveries,  so  often  seen  his  won- 
derful tenacity  of  life,  that  no  one  was  alarmed  as 
soon  as  a  stranger  might  have  been.  The  end  came 
at  last :  long  looked  for,  and  yet  sudden  still.  He 
commanded  me  to  return  to  him  with  all  speed ;  and 
I  came  in  time  to  receive  a  gaze  of  recognition  and 
his  blessing,  and  to  bear  to  him  the  Benediction  of 
the  Vicar  of  our  Lord.  What  I  add  is  the  record  of 
those  who  had  the  happiness  of  tending  him  by  night 
and  day.  Through  the  whole  of  that  season  his  mind 


800  OMXIA  PRO  CHPJSTO. 

was  calm,  peaceful,  thoughtful  of  others,  grateful 
for  every  service,  vividly  alive  to  every  intention  of 
kindness  in  those  about  him.  Once,  when  very  ill 
and  unable  to  rest  in  any  posture,  one  who  stood  by 
said,  '  I  fear  you  suffer  much.'  He  answered,  '  I  do 
not  suffer  at  all.  It  would  be  very  wrong  and  un- 
grateful in  me  to  complain,  or  to  call  a  little  dis- 
comfort suffering.  Think  of  poor  people.  I  have  a 
good  bed,  and  everything  possible  done  for  me.'  At 
another  time  he  said,  '  I  have  made  it  a  rule  for 
many  years  never  to  call  anything  pain  till  it  is  un- 
endurable.' Once,  when  an  attendant  endeavoured 
to  move  him  so  that  he  should  not  lie  on  the  wound 
which  the  surgeon  had  made,  he  smiled  and  said : 
*  It  is  sore  enough  always,  and  makes  very  little  dif- 
ference in  the  pain.'  He  was  always  trying  to  save 
trouble  to  those  about  him,  and  always  showed  plea- 
sure in  everything  that  was  done  for  him;  always 
saying  how  kind  they  were,  and  how  well  everything 
was  done,  just  tasting  and  then  refusing  it  when 
nature  could  endure  no  more.  At  one  time  it  was 
necessary  to  give  both  medicines  and  food  after  mid- 
night,-while  as  yet  it  was  not  thought  necessary  or 
prudent  to  give  Holy  Communion  by  way  of  viaticum. 
This  he  felt  most  of  all.  He  would  say,  '  They  little 
know  of  what  they  are  depriving  me.  A  little  fast- 


OMNIA  PEO  CHEISTO.  301 

ing  would  tire  me  less  than  this  longing.'  And  at 
another  time,  '  0,  how  much  longer  am  I  to  have 
patience !  how  long  am  I  to  wait !  They  are  keep- 
ing me  from  my  only  consolation.'  When  the  last 
days  of  unconsciousness  began,  and  he  was  hardly 
able  to  swallow  for  pain,  as  soon  as  he  heard  the 
words,  '  It  is  right  to  do  this,'  or  '  You  ought  to  take 
this,'  he  at  once  obeyed.  He  had  put  himself  sim- 
ply under  obedience  to  those  about  him,  as  a  submis- 
sion to  the  will  of  God.  When  told  that  he  must 
undergo  another  operation,  he  said,  '  Whatsoever  you 
think  right,  I  submit  to.  If  it  is  right,  let  it  be 
done.'  Believing  that  if  the  most  dangerous  of  the 
operations  were  not  performed,  he  would  not  live 
long,  he  afterwards  playfully  said,  '  How  unkind  of 
them !  I  hoped  that  I  should  have  been  in  heaven 
to-night,  and  they  have  kept  me  out  of  it.'  One  day 
he  was  overheard  to  say,  as  he  was  inwardly  dwelling 
on  his  own  great  sufferings,  and  on  the  greater  suf- 
ferings of  One  who  was  his  Master  and  his  Model  in 
patience  :  '  He  showed  no  mercy  to  Himself.'  When 
his  physicians  finally  told  him  that  hope  was  gone, 
he  thanked  them  with  gratitude;  and  from  that  mo- 
ment made  his  last  disposition  of  all  earthly  things, 
and  then  entered  into  the  sanctuary  of  God's  pre- 
sence, from  which  he  never  again  came  forth. 


302  OMNIA  PBO  CHFJSTO. 

To  one  who  was  always  at  his  side  it  seemed  as 
if  he  were  always  praying,  rapt  in  the  thought  of 
God.  Though  still  among  men,  the  words  of  the 
Apostle  were  emphatically  fulfilled  in  him  :  he  was 
dead,  and  his  life  was  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  He 
had  ceased  to  speak  or  to  hold  fellowship  with  us ; 
but  a  higher  life  had  expanded  itself  in  union  with 
the  Father  of  Spirits ;  and  about  the  expression  of 
his  face  was  a  peace  and  a  sweetness  which  seemed 
as  a  light  shining  from  within. 

Great  and  noble  in  his  life,  he  was  greater  and 
nobler  in  his  death.  There  was  about  it  a  calmness, 
a  recollection,  a  majesty,  an  order  of  perfect  fitness 
and  preparation  worthy  of  the  chamber  of  death,  and 
such  as  became  the  last  hours  of  a  Pastor  and  Prince 
of  the  Church  of  God.  He  was  a  great  Christian 
in  all  the  deepest,  largest,  simplest  meaning  of  the 
name ;  and  a  great  priest  in  thought,  word,  and 
deed,  in  the  whole  career  of  his  life,  and  in  the 
mould  of  his  whole  being.  He  died  the  death  of 
the  just,  making  a  worthy  and  proportionate  end  to 
a  course  so  great. 

We  have  lost  a  friend,  a  father,  and  a  pastor, 
whose  memory  will  be  with  us  while  life  lasts.  As 
one  who  knew  him  well  said  well  of  him,  '  We  are 
all  lowered  by  his  loss.'  We  have  all  lost  somewhat 


OMNIA  PRO  CHRISTO.  803 

which  was  our  support,  our  strength,  our  guidance, 
our  pattern,  and  our  pride.  "We  have  lost  him  who, 
in  the  face  of  this  great  people,  worthily  presented 
the  greatness  and  the  majesty  of  the  Universal 
Church.  He  has  fallen  asleep  in  the  midst  of  the 
generous,  kindly,  just,  nohle- hearted  sympathy  of 
the  people,  of  the  public  men,  of  the  public  voices 
of  England ;  a  great  people,  strong  and  bold  in  its 
warfare,  but  humane,  chivalrous,  and  Christian  to 
the  antagonists  who  are  worthy  to  contend  with  it. 
He  is  gone ;  but  he  has  left  behind  him  in  our 
memories  a  long  line  of  historical  pictures,  traced  in 
the  light  of  other  days  upon  a  field  which  will  retain 
its  colours  fresh  and  vivid  for  ever.  Some  of  you 
remember  him,  as  the  companion  of  your  boyhood, 
upon  the  bare  hills  of  Durham ;  some,  in  the  early 
morning  of  his  life,  in  the  sanctuaries  of  Rome; 
some  see  before  them  now  his  slender  stooping  form, 
on  a  bright  winter's  day,  walking  to  the  Festival  of 
St.  Agnes  out  of  the  walls ;  some,  again,  drawn  up 
to  the  full  stature  of  his  manhood,  rising  above  the 
storm,  and  contending  with  calm  commanding  voice 
of  reason  against  the  momentary  unreason  of  the 
people  of  England ;  some,  again,  can  see  him  vested 
and  arrayed  as  a  Prince  of  the  Church,  with  the 
twelve  suffragans  of  England  closing  the  long  pro- 


804  O3INIA  PRO  CHKISTO. 

cession  which,  after  the  silence  of  three  hundred  years, 
opened  the  first  Provincial  Synod  of  Westminster. 
Some  will  picture  him  in  the  great  hall  of  a  Eornan 
palace,  surrounded  by  half  the  Bishops  of  the  world, 
of  every  language  and  of  every  land,  chosen  by  them 
as  their  chief  to  fashion  their  -words  in  declaring 
to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  their  filial  obedience  to  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  power  with  which  God  has 
invested  the  "Vicar  of  His  Son.  Some  will  see  him 
feeble  in  death,  but  strong  in  faith,  arrayed  as  a 
Pontiff,  surrounded  by  the  Chapter  of  his  Church, 
by  word  and  deed  verifying  the  Apostle's  testimony, 
'  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course, 
I  have  kept  the  faith.'  And  some  will  cherish, 
abot  fc  all  these  visions  of  greatness  and  of  glory,  the 
calm  and  sweet  countenance  of  their  best  and  fast- 
est friend  and  father,  lying  in  the  dim  light  of  his 
chamber — not  of  death,  but  of  transit  to  his  crown. 
These  things  are  visions ;  but  they  are  substance. 
*  Transit  gloria  mundi,'  as  the  flax  burns  in  fire.  But 
these  things  shall  not  pass  away. 

Bear  him  forth,  right  reverend  fathers  and  dear  bre- 
thren in  Jesus  Christ ;  bear  him  forth  to  the  green 
burial-ground  on  the  outskirts  of  this  busy  wilder- 
ness of  men.  It  was  his  desire  to  die  and  to  be  buried, 
not  amid  the  glories  of  Rome,  but  in  the  midst  of  his 


OMNIA  PRO  CHEISTO.  305 

flock,  the  first  Archbishop  of  Westminster.  Lay  him 
in  the  midst  of  that  earth,  as  a  shepherd  in  the 
midst  of  his  sheep,  near  to  the  holy  Cross,  the  sym- 
bol of  his  life,  work,  and  hope ;  where  the  pastors 
he  has  ordained  will  be  buried  one  by  one,  resting 
in  a  circle  round  about  him  in  death,  as  they  la- 
boured round  about  him  in  life.  He  will  be  among 
us  still;  his  name,  his  form,  his  words,  his  pati- 
ence, his  love  of  souls,  will  be  our  law,  our  rebuke*, 
our  consolation.  And  yet  not  so :  it  is  but  the 
body  of  this  death  which  you  bear  forth  with  tears 
of  loving  veneration.  He  is  not  here;  he  will  not 
be  there.  He  is  already  where  the  Great  Shep- 
herd of  the  sheep  is  numbering  His  elect,  and  those 
who  led  them  to  the  fold  of  eternal  lifo.  And 
the  hands  which  have  so  often  blessed  you,  which 
anointed  you  for  the  altar,  fed  you  with  the  Bread 
of  Life,  are  already  lifted  up  in  prayer,  unceasing 
day  or  night,  for  us  one  by  one,  for  England,  for 
the  Church  in  all  the  world. 


X. 

THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST: 

At  St.  Edmund's  College,  on  the  Feast  of  St.  Edmund  of 
Canterbury,  1865. 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 


You  have  the  unction  from  the  Holy  One,  and  know  all  things. 

1  Si.  JOHN  ii.  20. 

THESE  words  are  like  those  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Phi- 
lippians :  '  Oinnia  possum  in  eo  qui  me  confortat.' 
'  I  can  do  all  things  in  Him  who  strengtheueth  me.'1 
That  is,  Christ  is  the  Fountain  of  all  light  and  of  all 
strength.  He  illuminates  the  soul  to  know  all  things 
relating  to  God  and  to  His  kingdom ;  He  strengthens 
the  soul  to  do  all  things  whatsoever  that  knowledge 
demands.  Within  the  circle  of  the  divine  revelation 
and  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  all  knowledge  and  power 
are  bestowed  by  our  divine  Lord  upon  His  disciples. 
St.  John  here  says :  You  have  an  unction  or  anointing 
from  the  Holy  One ;  that  is,  the  Holy  Ghost  Himself, 
Who  dwells  in  you  as  your  light.  St.  Paul  says,  all 
things  are  possible  through  Him  who  dwells  in  us  as 
our  strength. 

This  Unction,  which  was  first  poured  upon  the 
•  PhU.  iv.  15. 


310  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

divine  Head  of  the  Church,  has  descended  upon  the 
whole  mystical  Body,  and  upon  every  member  of  the 
same;  upon  each  in  his  own  order  and  measure — • 
upon  the  Pontiffs  with  a  perpetual  divine  assistance ; 
upon  the  Episcopate  diffused  throughout  the  world, 
sustaining  it  in  the  light  of  truth ;  upon  the  Church 
in  its  Councils,  preserving  it  from  all  error;  upon 
the  faithful  of  every  tongue,  who  cannot  err  in  be- 
lifeving,  because  the  Church  cannot  err  in  teaching. 
In  them  the  unction  of  the  Spirit  of  truth  becomes 
the  universal  illumination,  which  pervades  the  whole 
body  with  a  consciousness  of  the  revelation  of  God. 
Therefore  St.  John  here  says :  '  The  unction  which 
you  have  received  from  Him,  let  it  abide  in  you. 
And  you  have  no  need  that  any  one  should  teach 
you.'  That  is  to  say,  you  have  no  need  of  human 
teachers,  scribe  or  pharisee,  disputer  or  philosopher ; 
for  you  have  a  Teacher  who  is  divine,  and  He  teaches 
you  of  all  things,  not  by  fragmentary  and  partial 
doctrines,  but  by  the  whole  revelation  of  faith.  For 
He  '  is  truth,  and  is  no  lie ;'  no  intermixture  or 
shade  of  falsehood  can  mingle  in  His  illumination  or 
His  utterance.  The  Church,  then,  is  infallible  ;  and 
the  faithful,  so  long  as  they  believe  its  teaching, 
cannot  err.  The  same  Spirit  which  preserves  the 
Church  from  error  conforms  the  intelligence  and  the 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  Sll 

will  of  the  faithful  to  its  teaching.  They  know  all 
things,  because  they  receive  the  whole  revelation  by 
faith.  In  holy  Baptism  they  receive  the  three  graces 
which  unite  the  soul  with  God — faith,  hope,  and 
charity;  and  with  them  sanctifying  grace,  and  the 
seven  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Even  in  the  uncon- 
scious infant  all  these  are  present,  just  as  the  power 
of  reason  and  will  are  present  in  the  soul.  By  these 
they  are  assimilated  and  conformed  to  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit.  So  soon  as  consciousness  opens,  and 
the  moral  and  intellectual  activity  of  the  soul  begins, 
these  graces  and  gifts  begin  to  conform  the  soul  to 
the  infallible  voice  of  truth.  In  proportion  as  we 
correspond  with  these  lights  and  motions  of  grace, 
we  are  replenished  with  a  fuller  knowledge,  and 
strengthened  with  a  greater  power.  Even  the  na- 
tural powers  of  reason  and  will  are  elevated  and  un- 
folded with  greater  perfection,  in  proportion  as  we 
correspond  with  this  supernatural  grace  of  our  bap- 
tism. A  faithful  use  of  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  elevates  the  soul  to  a  double  perfection,  both 
in  the  order  of  nature  and  in  the  order  of  grace. 

Now  of  this  truth  we  have  an  evident  example 
in  St.  Edmund.  His  intelligence  was  evidently  by 
nature  capacious  and  penetrating,  but  much  more 
BO  by  grace.  It  was  to  his  supernatural  illumination 


312  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

that  we  may  trace  the  subtilty  and  beauty  of  his 
mind,  and  to  the  intense  spirit  of  piety  which  sanc- 
tified his  will  that  we  may  trace  his  illumination. 
St.  Edmund  is  an  example  of  the  power  of  the  seven 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  elevating  and  perfecting 
the  intelligence  of  man.  Now  it  is  to  this  point  in 
his  life  that  I  would  draw  your  thoughts.  You  al- 
ready know  his  history.  It  is  to  you  a  daily  medi- 
tation—  a  living,  domestic  tradition.  I  need  not, 
therefore,  describe  his  life,  nor  even  enter  into  the  de- 
tail of  his  character.  You  already  know  the  purity  of 
his  youth ;  his  filial  love  to  his  mother,  from  whom 
he  derived  his  first  impressions  of  God  and  His  king- 
dom ;  the  piety  and  sweetness  of  his  character  as  a 
pastor ;  his  inflexible  fidelity  in  resisting  the  usurpa- 
tions of  the  royal  power  upon  the  liberties  of  the 
Church.  All  these,  I  say,  are  as  household  words 
to  you.  St.  Edmund'is  your  patron  and  your  father, 
whose  life  is  your  example,  and  whose  prayers  are 
your  strength.  I  will  therefore  take  one  only  point 
in  the  beautiful  outline  of  his  life ;  and  that  is,  the 
union  of  piety  with  his  studies.  We  will  contem- 
plate him  as  the  pattern  for  Catholic  students  for  the 
service  of  the  altar. 

And  this  I  will  do  for  a  twofold  reason  :  the  one, 
because  this  topic  is  most  pertinent  to  the  times  in 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  313 

which  we  live ;  the  other,  because  it  has  a  pointed 
application  to  you. 

It  is  most  pertinent  to  this  present  day ;  because 
in  St.  Edmund  we  see  the  union  of  all  science,  sa- 
cred and  secular,  as  one  whole,  derived  from  one 
fountain,  and  in  perfect  harmony  and  subordination 
to  one  supreme  truth.  This,  which  is  the  true  basis 
of  Catholic  science,  and  the  true  method  of  Catholic 
study,  is  especially  assailed  in  this  age.  All  the 
energy  and  animosity  of  men  without  faith,  and  some- 
times even  of  men  with  more  faith  than  perspicacity, 
is  in  activity  to  detach  the  sciences  of  the  world  and 
of  society  from  the  revelation  of  God.  All  the  axes 
and  hammers,  the  levers  and  wedges  are  in  full  play, 
to  rend  off  the  physical  and  political  sciences  from 
God,  the  Author  of  society  and  of  all  things.  And 
this  leads  to  the  separation  of  the  head  and  the 
heart,  and  sets  the  highest  elements  of  man's  na- 
ture in  schism  and  opposition  against  each  other,  de- 
secrating the  intellect,  and  darkening  the  affections. 
Against  this,  St.  Edmund  is  a  direct  and  luminous 
witness.  What  is  this  disintegration  and  dissolu- 
tion of  the  unity  of  truth,  and  this  internal  confusion 
of  our  nature,  but  the  first  assault  of  the  enemy  of 
truth  ?  '  Omnis  spiritus  qui  solvit  Jesum  non  est 
ex  Deo; — every  spirit  that  dissolveth  Jesus  is  not 


814  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

of  God.'  And  these  words  are  emphatically  verified 
in  the  spirit  of  rationalistic  criticism,  which  dissolves 
the  hierarchy  of  sciences,  the  unity  of  the  faith,  the 
bonds  of  the  mystical  Body,  and  lastly,  the  Incarna- 
tion of  God. 

The  other  reason  for  speaking  of  him  as  a  stu- 
dent is  its  direct  application  to  yourselves,  whether 
you  be  destined  for  the  world  or  for  the  altar.  A 
large  part  of  St.  Edmund's  life  as  a  student  was 
spent  in  secular  studies,  and  as  a  layman.  As  such, 
he  appeals  to  one  class  among  you.  The  later  and 
higher  part  of  his  academical  career  was  in  sacred 
study,  as  an  ecclesiastic.  As  such,  he  appeals  to  you 
who  are  or  will  one  day  be  priests. 

Now  in  the  whole  of  his  example  there  is  a  per- 
fect unity.  Even  as  a  layman,  his  habits  of  piety 
were  such  as  would  befit  a  student  for  the  priest- 
hood; and  yet  they  were  such  as  a  secular  student 
could  habitually  practise.  I  do  not,  indeed,  say  that 
you  can  copy  him  to  the  letter;  but  all  may  follow 
the  spirit  of  his  example,  and,  in  the  main,  even  the 
detail. 

We  read,  then,  that  while  he  was  yet  a  youth 
studying  at  Paris,  it  was  his  habit  to  go  for  the  mid- 
night office  to  the  church  of  St.  Mery;  and  when  the 
office  was  done,  to  spend  the  rest  of  the  night  before 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  315 

the  altar  of  our  Lady;  then  to  hear  Mass  at  daybreak; 
then  to  go  to  the  schools  before  he  had  broken  his 
fast.  In  the  afternoon  he  returned  for  Vespers ;  then 
went  to  visit  the  poor  and  sick.  He  ate  once  a  day ; 
he  studied  with  an  imago  of  our  Immaculate  Mother, 
surrounded  by  the  mysteries  of  redemption,  before 
him.  Layman  as  he  was,  he  recited  daily  the  Divine 
Office,  with  a  salutation  of  the  five  sacred  wounds, 
and  a  meditation  on  the  Passion.  All  this  while  he 
was  studying  the  secular  sciences,  and  chiefly  mathe- 
matics. Here,  then,  is  a  pattern,  far  off,  indeed,  in 
perfection,  to  you  who  are  destined  for  the  world. 

In  the  midst  of  this  life  of  piety  and  study  came 
the  event  which  changed  the  current  of  his  life. 
One  night,  as  he  was  studying  mathematics  with 
diagrams  before  him,  he  fell  into  sleep  or  ecstasy,  in 
which  he  saw  his  holy  Mother  standing  over  him. 
She  pointed  to  the  figures  upon  his  paper,  and  said, 
'  My  son,  what  are  these  ?'  She  then  traced  upon 
the  page  three  circles,  in  which  Edmund  recognised 
the  three  divine  Persons  in  the  Godhead.  From 
that  time  he  renounced  the  secular  sciences  for  theo- 
logy, and  with  that  elevation  of  aim,  he  advanced 
still  onward  and  upward  in  the  practice  and  spirit 
of  piety.  Such  was  his  private  life  as  a  student; 
and  it  was  to  this  converse  with  God  that  he  owed 


SlG  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

the  spirituality,  intensity,  and  subtilty  of  intellect 
which  is  visible  even  in  the  little  which  remains  to  us 

*  • 

of  his  writing,  and  is  traditionally  recorded  in  his 
life. 

'  St.  Edmund,  then,  is  a  pattern  to  Catholic  stu- 
dents, and  a  proof  of  the  intellectual  development 
and  elevation  which  is  attained  by  the  practice  of 
piety,  and  by  the  sanctification  of  study  by  union 
with  God. 

In  his  Speculum  Ecclesice,  St.  Edmund  draws  out 
the  nature  and  diversity  of  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  their  office  in  the  perfection  of  the  soul. 
What  he  taught  he  exemplified,  and  his  life  is  the 
illustration  of  his  doctrine.  It  may  be  truly  said, 
that  it  is  by  the  use  of  these  seven  gifts  that  the 
saints  and  servants  of  God  differ  from  other  men. 
The  three  theological  virtues  of  faith,  hope,  and 
charity,  and  sanctifying  grace,  are  universal,  and 
essential  to  all  who  are  justified.  But,  though  the 
just  all  manifest  the  presence  of  these  graces,  they 
may  show  very  variously,  unequally,  and  often  very 
little,  of  the  operations  of  these  seven  gifts.  It  is 
especially  as  they  are  exercised  and  unfolded  that 
the  soul  is  elevated  to  a  higher  illumination  and 
perfection.  Now,  these  gifts  are  defined  by  theo- 
logians to  be  spiritual  powers,  or  faculties,  by  which 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  317 

the  soul  corresponds  with  grace.  They  enable  the 
soul  to  put  forth  its  own  powers,  and  to  unite  itself 
with  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  have 
therefore  been  likened  to  the  sails  of  a  ship,  which, 
when  spread,  catch  the  wind;  and  in  proportion  as 
they  are  unfolded,  the  soul  is  borne  onwards,  power- 
fully and  speedily,  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  They  are 
distinguished  into  two  kinds — those  which  perfect 
the  will,  and  those  which  perfect  the  intellect.  The 
gifts  which  perfect  the  will  are  three — holy  fear, 
piety,  and  fortitude ;  those  that  perfect  the  intellect 
are  four — science  and  counsel,  understanding  and 
wisdom ;  and  these  again  are  distinguished  into  two 
kinds  :  those  which  perfect  the  practical  intellect — 
namely  science  and  counsel;  and  those  which  per- 
fect the  speculative  intellect,  or  understanding  and 
wisdom. 

It  would  be  too  long  to  enter  into  detail.  It  will 
be  enough  to  describe  these  in  outline.  The  will  is 
perfected  first  by  holy  fear.  '  Initium  sapientia3  timor 
Domini.'  '  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning 
of  wisdom.'  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  first :  wisdom 
is  the  last  of  the  seven  gifts.  Holy  fear  casts  out 
sin  and  leads  on  to  piety ;  that  is,  the  filial  fear,  the 
love  of  sons  to  a  father,  which  is  even  in  the  blessed. 
It  is  piety  which  corresponds  with  'the  spirit  of 


818  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

adoption,  -whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father.'  And  to 
this  are  united  fortitude,  courage,  endurance  of  pen- 
ances, of  the  cross,  of  shame,  suffering,  and,  if  need 
be,  even  unto  blood  striving  against  sin.  These  three, 
then,  perfect  the  will. 

The  two  which  perfect  the  practical  intellect  are 
science,  or  the  light  by  which  the  reason  sees  God 
in  all  things,  and  all  things  in  God.  St.  Edmund, 
in  his  Mirror  of  the  Church,  says  that  there  are  four 
planes  or  fields  in  which  God  is  reflected;  two  within, 
reason  and  revelation,  or  the  light  of  nature  in  the 
intelligence,  and  the  illumination  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
elevating  the  intelligence  by  a  supernatural  light. 
Two  also  without,  the  creation,  and  the  Church,  or, 
in  other  words,  the  world  of  nature,  which  is  the  first 
creation  whereon  the  traces  and  outlines  of  God's 
being,  presence,  and  image  are  inscribed  in  characters 
of  goodness,  wisdom,  and  power;  and  the  second 
creation,  or  the  mystical  Body  of  the  Incarnate  Word, 
in  which  the  image  of  the  invisible  God  is  revealed 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  this  gift  of  science 
which  enlightened  St.  Edmund  to  see  God  in  all 
these  four  reflections  of  His  Presence,  and  to  behold 
all  these  lights  distinct  but  undivided  as  one. 

The  gift  of  counsel  is  the  spirit  of  equity,  dis- 
cernment, moral  intuition  of  the-  higher  and  more 


TIIE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  319 

perfect  laws  of  obligation,  generosity,  sanctity,  and 
conformity  to  the  mind  of  the  Spirit. 

The  gift  of  understanding  is  that  whereby  the 
truths  of  the  natural  and  of  the  supernatural  order 
are  rightly  apprehended,  both  in  their  definition  and 
in  their  principles.  Intelligence  is  described  as  the 
power,  intus  legendi,  of  reading  the  inner  sense  and 
reason  of  things,  not  the  face  of  the  world  only,  but 
its  laws ;  not  the  letter  of  Scriptures  only,  but  its 
sense ;  not  the  verbal  traditions  of  theology  only,  but 
its  unity  and  harmony,  the  relation  of  truth  with 
truth,  and  the  procession  of  one  truth  from  another. 

Lastly,  the  gift  of  wisdom  elevates  the  light  of 
understanding  by  a  supernatural  perception  of  the 
sweetness  of  truth.  Sapientia  is  sapere,  to  taste 
and  to  know  by  another  sense.  The  Psalmist  says, 
'  Taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  sweet.'  This  is 
wisdom,  or  a  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whereby  divine 
things  are  at  the  same  time  seen  and  tasted.  Such 
is  the  highest  state  of  the  soul  on  earth,  the  fore- 
taste of  the  beatific  vision. 

Now  of  the  first  three  gifts,  all  the  martyrs,  con- 
fessors, saints,  penitents,  and  servants  of  God  in  'any 
kind  and  degree,  are  examples.  Fear,  piety,  and  for- 
titude are  the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  end  of  their 
perfection  and  perseverance. 


320  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

Of  the  last  four  we  may  take  special  examples 
from  the  saints  and  doctors  of  the  Church. 

Of  the  gift  of  science,  St.  Gregory  the  Great  and 
St.  Ambrose  may  be  taken  as  examples.  The  moral 
beauty  of  the  first  creation,  or  of  the  new,  of  the 
world,  and  of  the  Church,  shines  through  all  their 
pages. 

Of  the  gift  of  counsel,  St.  Antoninus,  the  pater 
consiliorum,  and  St.  Alphonsus,  are  illustrations.  In 
them  the  moral  theology  of  the  Church  rises  from 
commandments  to  precepts,  and  from  precepts  to  the 
-counsels  and  science  of  perfection. 

Of  the  gift  of  understanding,  St.  Anselm  and 
St.  Thomas  are  witnesses.  In  them  the  intellectual 
science  of  faith  and  the  dogmatic  theology  of  the 
Church  resides  with  a  surpassing  and  singular  order, 
clearness,  fulness,  and  harmony. 

Of  the  gift  of  wisdom,  or  the  union  of  truth  and 
sweetness)  of  light  and  love,  St.  Bonaventura  and  St. 
Edmund  are  luminous  examples. 

It  is  certain  that  all  these  exercised  all  the  seven 
gifts  in  some  measure,  but  not  all  equally ;  and  it 
was  this  preeminent  exercise  of  one  over  the  others 
which  gave  to  each  a  special  and  characteristic  per- 
fection. 

So  is  it  in  the  life  of  every  true  Catholic  student. 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  321 

From  whatsoever  cause  in  nature  or  in  grace,  in  t'he 
constitution  of  his  mind,  or  by  the  special  inspiration 
of  God,  some  will  correspond  more  fully  and  adequately 
with  one  rather  than  with  another  of  these  seven 
gifts ;  and  from  this  arises  the  diversity  of  theologians 
and  doctors  in  the  Church,  dogmatic,  moral,  mystical, 
and  ascetic,  evangelists,  teachers,  and  guides  in  the 
way  of  perfection. 

If,  then,  the  use  of  these  seven  gifts  be  the  source 
of  light  and  wisdom  to  the  soul,  the  loss  of  them 
is  the  cause  of  folly,  and  of  intellectual  darkness. 
St.  Paul  says  of  the  heathens,  who,  'when  they 
knew  God,  did  not  glorify  Him'  as  God,  'or  give 
thanks,'  that  '  they  became  vain  in  their  thoughts, 
and  their  foolish  heart  was  darkened.'  An  intel- 
lectual emptiness  and  darkness  fell  judicially  upon 
them.  'Professing  themselves  to  be  wise,  they  be- 
came fools.'2  Intellectual  pride  was  punished  by 
intellectual  degradation.  '  They  liked  not  to  retain 
God  in  their  knowledge.'  Their  hearts  were  at  en- 
mity with  Him,  and  their  intellect  turned  away  from 
the  light ;  because  there  was  neither  piety  nor  holy 
fear  in  them,  therefore  science  and  counsel,  under- 
standing and  wisdom,  departed  from  them.  What 
was  true  then,  is  true  always.  It  was  true  in  the 

8  Romans  i.  21,  22. 

Y 


S22  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GEOST. 

times  of  twilight,  it  is  true  in  the  noontide  of  revela- 
tion. How  can  we  otherwise  account  for  the  atroci- 
ties of  the  French  philosophers  in  the  last  century, 
but  by  the  sensuality  which  quenched  the  light  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  ?  The  perception  of  God  in  His 
creatures  was  extinguished  by  the  spirit  of  impiety 
and  of  mockery.  Rousseau  and  Voltaire  are  normal 
examples  of  the  darkness  which  falls  upon  intellect, 
howsoever  subtil  and  cultivated,  when  it  is  sensual. 
The  same,  too,  is  to  be  seen  at  this  day  in  the  anti- 
catholic  philosophy  and  anti-catholic  politics  of  our 
time.  They  are  anti-catholic  because  they  are  anti- 
christian.  The  revolution  which  is  undermining  the 
Continent  is  essentially  infidel,  if  not  atheistic ;  and 
it  has  penetrated  widely  into  our  literature,  espe- 
cially into  public  opinion.  The  enmity  of  the  will 
against  the  Church  and  truth  of  God  has  generated 
the  most  extravagant  illusions  and  falsehoods  in 
minds  which  are  both  clear  and  capable  in  the  things 
of  this  world. 

Another  example  of  this  may  be  taken  in  two 
writers  of  our  own  times.  One  is  the  author  of  the 
Positive  Philosophy,  in  which  not  only  God  and  His 
operations  find  no  place,  but  law,  cause,  effect,  and 
the  like  are  rejected  as  figments  of  the  brain,  or 
metaphysical  supers titions.  The  sum  of  philosophy 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  323 

is  to  note  facts  and  phenomena,  without  any  inter- 
pretation of  the  reason ;  that  is,  sense  is  supreme 
and  sole.  Whatsoever  we  can  see,  taste,  weigh, 
touch,  and  test  by  chemistry — that  is  the  matter  of 
philosophy;  but  the  reason  may  not  predicate  any- 
thing as  to  the  relations  in  which  facts  and  pheno- 
mena stand  to  each  other.  Of  all  causes  which  are  to 
be  eliminated  as  superstitions,  the  first  cause  is  the 
worst  of  all.  Atheism  is  the  normal  state  of  man, 
and  the  perfection  of  science.  This  may  be  philo- 
sophy in  the  eyes  of  its  disciples.  To  us  it  is  reason 
stunted,  human  nature  cut  down  to  a  pollard,  sense 
without  intelligence  :  and  therefore  irrational. 

Another  form  of  this  is  in  a  well-known  book 
on  modern  civilisation,  in  which  society  is  described 
as  the  necessary  sum  of  necessary  agents,  without 
either  the  free  will  of  man  or  the  moral  government 
of  God.  Such  is  the  world  of  the  old  creation,  and 
the  new,  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  proceed  by  their 
own  lights,  in  opposition  to  the  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  To  them  the  Church  has  no  light,  no  reve- 
lation, no  divine  image,  the  world  no  reflection  of  its 
Maker,  the  reason  no  radiance  of  God ;  the  world, 
with  all  its  glory  and  beauty,  has  no  divine  intelli- 
gence shining  through  it ;  no  tracings  of  the  divine 
hand,  no  agencies  of  the  divino  will.  It  is  beautiful 


324  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

but  vacant,  like  the  fair  countenance  of  an  idiot — the 
most  mournful  and  unintelligent  of  all  the  works  of 
God,  or,  rather,  the  most  humbling  and  melancholy 
obscuration  of  the  perfections  of  our  nature,  and 
of  the  reflections  of  the  divine.  Such  is  the  world, 
with  all  its  aspects  of  wisdom,  goodness,  and  power, 
to  eyes  and  intelligences  which  have  forfeited  the 
gifts  of  science  and  of  wisdom. 

And  farther :  as  the  loss  of  these  seven  gifts  leads 
to  intellectual  darkness,  so  the  obstructing  of  their 
activity  leads  to  a  proportionate  loss  of  light. 

To  those  who  are  within  the  full  light  of  faith,  it 
seems  inexplicable  how  men  of  capable  and  cultivated 
minds  should  fail  to  perceive  its  divine  certainty. 
The  condition  of  England  at  this  moment  is  an  ex- 
ample. The  so-called  Reformation  has  so  obscured 
and  deadened  the  consciousness  of  the  presence  and 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  Church  and  in 
the  soul,  and  has  so  extinguished  the  sense  of  the 
supernatural  order,  that  the  majority  of  baptised  per- 
sons seem  to  be  unconscious  of  their  baptismal  grace. 
They  have  hardly  so  much  as  heard  of  the  seven 
gifts.  Except  in  the  Catholic  Catechism,  and  books 
of  devotion,  the  enumeration  and  the  names  of  them 
are  hardly  to  be  found.  It  is  not  wonderful,  there- 
fore, that  few  pray  for  them  or  correspond  with  them. 


THE  DISCIPLES  OP  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  825 

Nay,  more  than  this :  the  nature  of  regeneration,  of 
the  three  theological  virtues,  even  of  grace  itself,  is 
little  realised,  and  hardly  understood.  A  universal 
unconsciousness  of  anything  but  the  powers  of  nature 
has  spread  over  England,  and  a  great  obscurity  has 
risen  between  it  and  the  unseen  world.  The  objects 
of  faith  are  dim,  and  therefore  the  definition  of  them, 
that  is,  the  doctrines  or  dogmas  which  express  them, 
are  proportionately  inexact  and  confused.  Compare 
with  the  intellectual  haze  and  mistiness  of  even 
learned  Anglican  writers,  the  intensity  and  reality 
of  St.  Edmund's  meditations  on  God  and  the  crea- 
tion of  man  ;  or  the  most  elaborate  writings  of  the 
highest  and  best  authors  of  the  last  three  hundred 
years,  such  as  Hooker  or  Jeremy  Taylor,  with  the 
luminous  precision  of  St.  Thomas  or  of  Suarcz.  I 
know  of  no  other  way  of  accounting  for  the  possi- 
bility of  Protestantism,  but  by  supposing  that  the 
office  of  the  Holy  Ghost  had  been  obscured.  The 
theory  which  supposes  His  infallible  voice  to  be  sus- 
pended, is  so  far  rendered  imaginable  by  the  obscuri- 
ties and  contradictions  of  those  who  teach  it. 

To  many  it  seems  impossible  to  extend  the  plea 
of  invincible  ignorance  to  men  who,  with  full  culti- 
vation, abundant  leisure,  possession  of  all  kinds  of 
opportunities,  contact  with  Catholics,  Catholic  books 


826  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  TEE  HOLY  GHOST, 

of  every  period,  Fathers,  schoolmen,  theologians,  yet 
remain  in  the  fragmentary  belief  of  Anglicanism.  It 
seems  impossible  that  they  should  read  antiquity  and 
the  Councils,  especially  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  that 
they  should  continue  to  deny  the  authority  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  claim  to  interpret  its  doctrines 
in  opposition  to  its  world-wide  voice.  And  yet  it  is 
easy  to  see,  that  if  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  be  ob- 
structed, the  light  of  the  soul  is  clouded,  and  men 
may  see  grotesque  and  unreal  forms  in  everything 
around  them ;  as  travellers,  when  the  sun  is  down,  see 
all  things  in  distortion,  without  distance  and  without 
truth.  Erom  this  comes  all  manner  of  material  heresy, 
— not  formal  indeed,  we  may  trust, — in  a  great  mul- 
titude, who  are  led  like  sheep,  but  nevertheless  the 
matter  is  heretical.  This  is  true  not  of  the  unlearned 
only,  but  of  the  most  cultivated.  Indeed,  in  them  it 
seems  as  if  the  more  they  study,  the  farther  they  be- 
come involved  in  the  processes  of  their  own  private 
judgment.  Every  approximation  even  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  Catholic  Church  strengthens,  because  it  depends 
upon,  the  exercise  of  private  judgment ;  so  that  none 
are  so  far  off  as  many  that  seem  to  be  near.  They 
are  near  only  in  the  accident  of  particular  opinions ; 
but  afar  off  by  the  whole  principle,  procedure,  and 
spirit  of  their  minds.  The  gifts  of  holy  fear  and  of 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  327 

piety  would  make  them  docile,  and  afraid  to  go  alone; 
the  gifts  of  science  and  of  intellect  would  have  shown 
them  the  unity,  harmony,  and  coherence  of  truth. 
It  would  become  its  own  evidence  ;  for  clearness  and 
precision  are  qualities  of  truth,  and  proofs  of  its 
divine  certainty. 

God  has  made  submission  to  His  Church  a  con- 
dition of  knowing  His  truth;  and  without  corre- 
spondence with  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  there 
will  be  no  submission.  The  most  extensive  and 
multifarious  study  of  Scripture,  Fathers,  Councils, 
theologians,  without  the  living  guidance  of  the 
Church  and  the  oral  traditions  of  its  theology,  will 
not  make  a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  must 
be  critics  or  disciples;  both  we  cannot  be;  and 
before  we  can  be  disciples,  we  must  cease  to  play 
the  critic.  The  critical  spirit  is  the  antagonist  of 
the  seven  gifts  in  all  their  array,  from  holy  fear  to 
wisdom. 

And  this  leads  me  back  to  the  truth  with  which 
I  began.  It  is  the  faithful  use  of  these  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  which  makes  men  to  be  the  true  disciples 
of  Jesus.  By  disciple  is  to  be  understood  not  a 
learner  only,  but  a  learner  who  is  subject  to  disci- 
pline. Jesus  made  His  Apostles  to  be  disciples 
before  He  sent  them  forth  as  doctors.  They  sur- 


828  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  KOLY  GHOST. 

rendered  their  whole  will  and  their  whole  intelligence 
to  Him,  to  he  trained  and  illuminated  hy  His  teach- 
ing and  His  grace.  What  He  did  for  them,  the  Church 
does  for  us.  Doctores  fidelium,  Ecclesia  discipuli. 
The  doctors  of  the  faithful  are  the  disciples  of  the 
Church,  because  the  unction  which  is  upon  it  teaches 
them  of  all  things.  They  first  learn  to  correspond 
with  its  divine  voice ;  and  by  the  seven  gifts  of  the 
Spirit  they  are  inwardly  conformed,  both  in  will  and 
in  intelligence,  to  'the  mind  which  was  in  Chiist 
Jesus.'  They  learn  to  believe  as  the  Church  be- 
lieves, and  to  teach  as  the  Church  teaches.  They 
are  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  living  instincts  of 
the  Church,  with  the  mind  of  its  Councils,  and  the 
voice  of  its  Pontiffs. 

Now  this  habit  of  mind,  which  I  will  call  the 
Catholic  spirit,  has  five  signs  or  rules,  which  will  be 
found  in  a  true  Catholic  student. 

1.  The  first  sign  is  a  loving  submission  to  the 
Church;  not  a  bare  submission,  which  may  be  ex- 
acted by  a  cold  intellectual  necessity,  or  by  a  servile 
fear  of  judgment,  but  a  loving  submission,  a  joyful 
and  thankful  obedience  to  the  Church  as  a  divine 
guide ;  and  a  generous  and  unreserved  conformity  of 
our  whole  nature  and  mind,  intellectual  and  spiritual, 
to  its  guidance  and  direction.  This  is  impossible  to 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  329 

those  who  look  upon  the  Church  as  a  human  society, 
the  creation  of  legislatures,  the  ward  of  royal  su- 
premacies. But  to  all  who  know  it  to  be  the  Body 
of  Christ,  inhabited  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  illuminated 
and  guided  by  His  light  and  voice,  the  Church  is  an 
object  of  faith  and  love,  the  tabernacle  of  God  among 
men,  the  nearest  approach  to  the  beatific  vision  and 
union  of  the  soul  with  God.  Such  minds  will  not  be 
content  with  a  bare  submission  of  outward  obedience, 
or  of  silence,  but  will  render  an  inward  assent  and 
affiance  of  the  heart.  They  will  obey  not  only  the 
dogma  of  faith  delivered  by  Councils,  but  the  whole 
spirit  and  mind  which  pervades  the  discipline,  wor- 
ship, and  devotions  of  the  Church.  They  will  feel 
that  to  submit  by  constraint  is  no  submission  of  the 
will ;  to  submit  coldly  is  not  the  submission  of  dis- 
ciples or  of  sons.  It  would  be  the  submission  of  fear 
or  of  reason — not  of  love ;  but  the  submission  of  love 
includes  both,  and  springs  from  the  gift  of  wisdom, 
which  not  only  sees  but  tastes  the  truth. 

2.  A  second  sign  is  devotion  to  the  Saints.  Next 
to  the  infallible  voice  of  the  Church,  there  is  no 
guidance  so  certain  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Saints. 
Theologians  boldly  say,  that  what  the  Saints  unite 
in  teaching  is  undoubtedly  true.  *  The  consent  of 
tho  Saints  is  the  sense  of  the  Holy  Spirit.'  Whatso- 


330  THE  DISCIPLES  0?  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

ever  they  unanimously  teach  must  be  either  from  the 
infallible  guidance  of  the  Church,  or  from  the  illu- 
mination of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  from  the  operation 
of  His  seven  gifts,  which  in  perfecting  their  reason 
and  their  -will  upon  the  same  forms  and  laws  of  truth 
conform  them  to  each  other.  There  are  about  holy 
minds  lights  and  instincts  which  transcend  our  ordin- 
ary level.  They  see,  even  in  this  world,  truths  which 
are  beyond  our  reach.  How  much  more  the  Saints, 
in  whom  the  spirit  of  sanctity  abides  in  the  largest 
measure.  St.  Philip  used  to  counsel  his  penitents, 
in  choosing  books,  to  take  those  whose  authors  had 
S.  before  their  names.  In  them  we  may  find  not 
only  the  dogma  of  faith,  but  instincts,  discernments, 
intuitions  in  matters  both  near  to  the  faith  and  re- 
mote from  it,  which  are  most  salutary  for  our  guidance. 
The  gift  of  piety  will  conform  us  to  the  mind  of  the 
Saints,  because  it  is  the  mind  of  the  Spirit. 

3.  A.  third  sign  is  deference  to  theologians.  Upon 
the  lowest  ground  it  may  be  affirmed,  that  when  the 
theologians  of  the  Church  agree,  no  individual  with- 
out temerity  can  oppose  them.  As  a  mere  intel- 
lectual tradition,  the  consentient  judgment  of  the 
learned  must  prevail  over  the  opinion  of  any  indivi- 
dual. There  must  be  a  strange  self-sufficiency  and 
vain-glory  in  any  one  who  revises  and  corrects  their 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  CHOST.  831 

discernment.  And  this  upon  the  mere  basis  of  in- 
tellectual culture  and  acuteness. 

But  there  is  a  farther  reason  still.  The  theolo- 
gians of  the  Church,  if  not  all  canonised  Saints, 
though  many  are  this  also,  at  least  have  used  their 
natural  gifts  and  powers  with  great  diligence  and 
fidelity,  and  with  a  more  than  ordinary  correspondence 
with  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  are,  as  a  hody,  an  emi- 
nent example  of  the  gifts  of  knowledge  and  counsel, 
wisdom  and  understanding ;  and  their  works  of  spe- 
culative and  practical  theology,  of  dogmatic,  moral, 
and  mystical  science,  are  the  direct  fruit  of  those  four 
gifts.  They  have  a  claim,  then,  to  our  deference, 
not  only  on  the  ground  of  intellectual  superiority, 
confirmed  by  an  unanimity  in  some  things  and  a 
wide  consent  in  others,  but  also  as  doctors  of  the 
faithful,  in  whom  a  higher  intellectual  cultivation 
was  elevated  by  a  larger  illumination.  Their  judg- 
ments and  decisions  cannot  indeed  make  matter  of 
faith,  but  they  certainly  make  matter  of  moral  cer- 
tainty. No  one  who  sets  himself  against  their  united 
voice  can  be  cleared  of  self-sufficiency  and  of  rash- 
ness. The  gift  of  counsel  would  restrain  a  Catholic 
student  from  contradicting  the  theologians  of  the 
Church. 

4.  A  fourth  sign  of  docility  is  a  fear  and  suspi- 


CC2  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  TH3  EOLY  G2G2T. 

cioa  of  novelty.  Tertulikn  says,  '  From  the  order 
itself  it  is  manifest  that  what  is  first  in  tradition  is 
from  the  Lord  and  true  :  what  is  afterwards  brought 
in  is  foreign  and  false/3  The  identity  and  immutability 
of  truth  is  the  basis  of  the  advancing  maturity  of  con- 
ception and  of  expression  which  pervades  the  doctrines 
of  faith  and  the  science  of  theology.  But  in  all  this 
there  is  nothing  new.  The  same  old  truths  are  denned 
with  new  precision.  The  terminology  may  be  new,  the 
truth  is  as  old  as  the  revelation  of  faith.  The  Church 
presents  to  the  faithful  non  nova  sed  novv — not  new 
doctrines  but  new  exactness  of  definition.  "Whereso- 
ever, then,  new  doctrines  are  introduced,  as  by  Luther 
and  Jansenius ;  or  new  interpretations  of  Scripture, 
as  by  Calvin  or  Erasmus ;  or  new  principles  in  philo- 
sophy, as  by  Descartes  and  many  moderns,  a  Catholic 
"int  will  beware.  He  will  know  that  the  smallest 
curve  may,  if  produced,  lead  to  a  wide  deflection ; 
that  a  single  philosophical  error  will  import  a  series 
of  errors  into  the  doctrine  of  faith ;  that  one  false 
in.  the  science  of  God  is  like  one  erroneous 
in  a  long'  calculation  \  and  that  new  propwi- 
ticna,.  though,  they  be  attractive  by  their  completeness 
or  plausibility,,  may  carry  disorder  through  whole  tre- 
atises of  theology.  He  will  take  his  stand  upon,  the 

1  De  Prasscrijjt.  cento,  Hsret.  c.  xrd. 


1  1"  :!    I  I  r  .  1  _  l._  J    .  j     7  llil   I.  I  IT    .'  E  J  S  7  .  v 

;.:;.; 


-  ill  L.:  1  ;  :-;-::-.  I  :: 
depart  from  them  for  any  novelties,  howsoever  al- 
hiring.  This  caution  is  all  the  more  needful  far 
da  js  ia  which  we  hear,  not  from  Protestants  only, 
but  eTen  firom  some  Catholics,  that  the  scholastic 
-_  "~:1.  ;::  "_;-  :.-_.!  :"_.  1:  j;  .  .:-  ..:.::  _:;..:.  .1.  --_i:  ;'.  :  :_.  - 

dam  thought,  aadmaat  t>  JMglaoed  by  new  methndis 
and  a  netr  niUnumi  of  historj  awl  of  aaUquiU,  in 
older  to  kv  the  basis  of  science  a 


5.  The  fifth  and  last  sign  I  wifl  mention  is  mis- 
trast  of  self.  A  Catholic  student  wffl  be  confident 
wheresoQwr  the  Church  has  spofcpn,  or  the  consent 
of  Saints  or  of  theologians  goes  before  him;  but 
•tarn  be  it  left  to  himself  be  will  hare  a  wholesome 
utihlrw'-^f  Ifa  fl^n  'yTPfi'ff  ?  Mttpu*sfirf,ctde*Kis 
pntdfHtfr  d*bttart  —  to  know  some  things,  and  to 
donbt  pradentfy  about  the  rest,  is  the  spirit  of  docil- 
ity, And  assuredly  no  man  who  knows  himself  will 
confide  in  Ms  own  light.  We  hare  only  to  remember 
how  often  we  bare  been  wrong;  bow  often,  with  all 
the  means  of  knowledge  about  us,  we  have  bear  igno- 
rant or  unable  to  see  the  truth  ;  bow  oar  most  con- 
fident opinions  at  one  time  bare  turned  oat  to  be 
niiililj  mmitmi  at  another  ;  bow  fittfo  wo  bme  oi«r 
lead,  bow  mndt  less  we  haTe  stedied,  bow  maeb  less 


834  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

again  we  have  mastered ;  how  fragmentary  and  inco- 
herent is  our  best  knowledge  of  many  things  ;  how 
•vast  and  complex  is  truth,  hoth  in  the  natural  and 
supernatural  order ;  how  un-illunainated  we  are,  com- 
pared with  the  Saints ;  how  ignorant,  compared  with 
the  doctors  of  the  Church ;  how  narrow  and  darkened 
our  individual  mind  is,  compared  with  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit,  that  is,  of  the  Church,  which  for  these 
eighteen  hundred  years  has  '  reached  mightily  from 
end  to  end,  sweetly  disposing  all  things.'  It  is  im- 
possible for  any  man  to  realise  these  things  without 
becoming  less  and  less  in  his  own  eyes,  and  learning 
a  thorough  mistrust  of  his  own  powers  and  know- 
ledge. Strange  inversion  of  truth  and  of  the  moral 
instincts  !  Confidence  in  our  own  light  is  a  virtue  out 
of  the  Catholic  unity,  but  a  vice  within  it.  It  is  the 
maximum  of  certainty  to  those  who  have  no  divine 
and  infallible  teacher ;  it  is  the  minimum  to  those  who 
are  guided  by  the  Church  of  God.  As  the  Greeks 
said :  '  If  we  cannot  sail,  we  must  row ;'  if  we  have  no 
divine  guidance  by  the  Spirit  which  breathes  through 
the  Church,  we  must  painfully  toil  onward  by  the 
stretch  and  reliance  of  our  own  strength. 

These,  then,  are  the  signs  of  the  true  disciples 
of  the  Holy  Spirit :  loving  submission  to  the  Church ; 
devotion  to  the  Saints ;  deference  to  theologians ;  fear 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  335 

and  suspicion  of  novelty;  mistrust  of  self.  Such 
men  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  are  His  sons 
indeed.  '  As  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God, , 
they  are  the  sons  of  God ;'  and  it  is  by  His  seven 
gifts  that  He  leads  those  who  correspond  with  His 
operations  onwards  and  upwards  to  perfection. 

This,  then,  is  the  operation  of  the  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  upon  the  intellect  and'  the  will.  But 
that  this  operation  be  effectual,  it  is  necessary  that 
both  the  intellect  and  the  will  correspond  to  it.  And 
for  this,  certain  acts  and  habits  of  the  soul  are  re- 
quired. The  first  of  them  is  a  humble  and  sincere 
cleansing  of  the  conscience  by  good  confession.  '  The 
light  of  the  body  is  the  eye;  if  thine  eye  be  single, 
thy  whole  body  shall  be  lightsome.'  That  is,  the 
light  of  the  soul  is  the  conscience.  If  the  conscience 
be  pure,  the  whole  soul  shall  be  full  of  light.  *  The 
clean  in  heart  shall  see  God.'  A  heart  darkened  by 
any  impurity  hides  the  vision  of  God  from  itself. 

Next  is  mental  prayer,  or  the  realisation  of  the 
objects  of  faith  by  the  intellectual  vision.  This  vi- 
sible world  is  so  loud  and  intrusive,  that  the  world 
unseen  is  visionary  and  powerless  over  men.  The 
objects  of  faith  need  to  be  realised  before  they  can 
be  appreciated,  and  appreciated  before  their  active  in- 
fluence upon  us  can  have  a  constraining  power.  The 


836  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLT  GHOST. 

world  unseen,  by  habitual  meditation  passes  into  our 
consciousness.  We  live  and  act  upon  the  motives 
of  the  invisible  world,  as  the  men  of  this  world  live 
and  act  upon  its  earthly  maxims.  God  and  His  hea- 
venly court,  the  communion  of  Saints,  the  state  of  the 
departed,  become  certain,  and  if  I  may  use  the  word, 
become  sensible,  to  faith. 

A  third  means  whereby  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  the  heart  are  unfolded  into  activity  is  the  study 
of  holy  Scripture.  Forasmuch  as  the  books  of  Holy 
Writ  have  God  for  their  author,  there  is  an  affinity 
between  His  gifts  in  the  soul  and  His  inspirations 
in  the  written  word.  The  Scripture  is  the  fruit  and 
the  record  of  those  seven  gifts,  in  their  amplest  and 
profoundest  manifestation.  The  Prophets,  Apostles, 
Evangelists,  Martyrs,  and  Saints  of  the  Old  and  New 
Laws  afford  luminous  examples  of  every  one  of  these 
endowments  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  both  in  the  intel- 
lect and  the  will,  and  that  in  the  most  perfect  degree 
and  maturity.  The  holy  Scripture,  therefore,  speaks 
with  a  divine  voice  to  the  soul.  Every  part  of  it  is 
the  word  of  God ;  and  every  word  which  proceedeth 
out  of  the  mouth  of  God  elicits  a  response  from  a  soul 
in  which  the  same  Spirit  dwells.  The  living  oracle 
of  the  Church  and  the  silent  utterances  of  Scripture 
are  alike  the  voice  of  God ;  all  else  is  subordinate. 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GKOST.  337 

Therefore  it  is  that  the  Saints  have  exhibited  such 
a  profound  love  and  veneration  for  the  written  word. 
St.  Edmund  was  wont  to  kiss  the  pages  of  the  book 
when  he  opened  it  and  when  he  closed  it.  St.  Charles 
used  to  read  holy  Scripture  with  bare  head  and  on 
his  knees.  They  recognised  in  it  the  presence  and 
the  voice  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  by  it  they  conversed 
with  Him,  and  by  converse  with  Him  they  were  ele- 
vated to  a  singular  degree  of  interior  conformity  to 
the  mind  of  the  Spirit.  To  you  all,  as  Christians  and 
as  Catholics,  especially  in  this  land  and  in  these  days, 
a  true  and  exact  knowledge  of  Scripture  is  of  great 
moment ;  and  if  to  all,  how  much  more  to  those  of 
you  who  are  to  be  the  teachers  of  others,  the  preachers 
of  salvation,  the  interpreters  of  the  faith,  the  wit- 
nesses of  the  revelation  of  God.  To  you,  who  first 
receive  the  full  illumination  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  grow  up  in  the  faith  as  the  root  of  your  spiritual 
consciousness,  the  page  of  Scripture  is  open  and  full 
of  light.  You  read  it,  not  by  the  broken  lights  of 
private  judgment,  or  the  wavering  lights  of  the  private 
spirit,  but  in  the  full  and  steadfast  illumination  of 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  in  the  midst  of  which  it  was 
written.  Study,  therefore,  the  text  of  the  sacred 
books  with  the  closest  application  of  all  your  natural 
intelligence,  and  a  faithful  correspondence  with  the 

z 


833  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

supernatural  gifts  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  whoce  dis- 
ciples you  are.  He  is  your  theologian  and  your 
guide  in  the  science  of  God.  Read  the  sacred  text 
as  the  records  of  His  teaching,  the  brief  bu,t  har- 
monious outlines  of  the  world-wide  enunciation  of  the 
faith.  To  you,  all  is  unity,  symmetry,  and  order; 
as  light,  which,  streaming  from  a  single  point,  diffuses 
itself  in  an  equable  and  perfect  radiance. 

The  fourth  and  last  means  of  which  I  will  speak 
is  habitual  prayer  for  light,  to  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
truth.  Be  devout  to  the  third  Person  of  the  Holy 
Trinity.  To  know  Him,  His  presence,  personality,  and 
power,  His  twofold  office  in  the  Church  and  in  our 
own  soul,  is  the  condition  of  the  perfect  illumina- 
tion of  the  intellect.  Without  this,  the  intellect  may 
be  cultivated,  but  it  will  be  cold  and  dim.  The 
errors,  low  views,  fragmentary  opinions,  distorted 
judgments,  partial  statements,  ill-sounding  proposi- 
tions, shallow  appreciations,  of  men  endowed  with 
great  natural  gifts,  are  to  be  traced  to  an  inade- 
quate realisation  of  the  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  of  His  relation  to  their  intellect  and  their 
will.  Their  theology  is  like  themselves.  A 
student  who  is  united  by  the  gift  of  piety  to  the 
light  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will  be  implicitly  a  theo- 
logian. The  degree  of  his  explicit  knowledge  will 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  339 

still  depend  on  natural  gifts,  and  their  due  cul- 
tivation ;  and  yet  there  is  an  infused  theology  in 
docile  hearts  which  is  seldom  at  fault,  and  often 
transcends  the  cultivation  of  the  intellectual.  Be- 
fore and  after  your  studies,  ask  light  from  your 
divine  Teacher.  Then,  with  the  page  before  you, 
preserve  a  consciousness  of  your  dependence  upon 
Him. 

St.  Edmund  was  one  day  waiting  in  the  schools 
at  Paris  for  the  coming  of  his  .scholars.  He  was 
about  to  expound  to  them  the  mystery  of  the  Holy 
Trinity.  While  they  tarried,  he  fell  into  a  slumber 
or  a  rapture ;  and  he  saw  a  Dove  descending  to- 
wards him.  It  bore  in  its  beak  the  sacred  Host, 
and  laid  it  on  his  lips.  When  he  returned  to  him- 
self, he  began  his  lecture,  and  all  who  heard  him  won- 
dered at  the  words  of  sweetness  and  of  light  which 
proceeded  out  of  his  mouth.  It  was  this  which 
gave  to  all  he  spoke  its  energy  and  power.  The 
few  brief  writings  which  remain  to  us  are  full  of 
the  unction  and  the  fire  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  We 
can  understand,  from  the  few  words  which  remain 
to  us,  how  the  hearts  of  men  thrilled  as  they  heard 
him.  What  more  simple,  yet  what  more  intense, 
than  such  words  as  these :  '  If  you  are  saved,  every 
hair  of  your  head  shall  be  glorified ;'  or  again,  '  If 


840  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

the  whole  world  were  full  of  fine  dust,  the  atoms 
would  be  beyond  number;  and  yet  your  soul  is  a 
thousand  times  more  capacious  than  the  world,  and 
is  filled  with  the  mercies  of  God  beyond  the  num- 
ber of  all  created  things.'  He  spoke  out  of  the 
consciousness  of  his  own  soul,  which  had  lived 
from  childhood  in  intimate  communion  with  God. 
It  was  the  reality  of  this  spiritual  experience  which 
gave  him  power  over  the  hearts  of  men.  He  spoke 
what  he  knew  by  an  interior  sense  deeper  than 
the  intellect,  more  refined  than  all  learned  cultiva- 
tion. 

Such  must  be  your  preparation  for  the  work  of 
your  life.  You  are  called  to  be  pastors  of  the  flock, 
and  you  must  go  before  the  sheep  committed  to 
you,  in  all  things;  in  the  science  of  God  and  of 
the  Saints,  in  the  unction  of  grace  and  truth,  in 
sanctity  of  life,  in  wisdom  and  the  power  of  the 
Spirit.  You  are  set  to  be  fishers  of  men,  and  you 
must  take  them  by  the  net  in  the  sea,  and  by  the 
hook  let  down  in  silence,  in  patient  toil,  and  the 
science  of  charity.  You  are  sent  forth  as  reapers 
into  the  harvest  -  field,  to  bear  the  burden  of  the 
day  and  the  heat,  and  to  gather  maniples  of  souls 
with  joy  for  the  eternal  garner.  To  you  is  made 
the  promise  of  the  prophet :  '  They  that  arc  learned' 


THE  DISCIPLES  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST.  341 

— not  in  the  learning  of  this  world,  but  in  the 
science  of  God  — '  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of 
the  firmament ;  and  they  that  instruct  many  to  jus- 
tice, as  stars  for  all  eternity.'4 

4  Dan.  xii.  3. 


XI. 
OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN : 

At  the  Opening  of  the  Church  of  St.  Joseph's  College  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  Foreign  Missions,  March  19,  1868. 


MY  DSAB  FATHER  VAUGHAN, 

'While  I  am  sending  this  "book  to  press,  you 
are  on  the  Atlantic,  conducting  the  first  band  of  Mission- 
ary Fathers  from  St.  Joseph's  College  to  their  work  among 
the  Negroes.  I  therefore  cannot  refrain  from  putting  into 
this  volume  the  three  following  sermons;  not  for  any 
worth  in  them,  but_  because  they  were  preached  at  your 
request,  and  because  they  enable  me  to  express  what  we 
owe  to  you  for  the  founding  of  our  first  Seminary  for 
missions  to  the  heathen.  They  will  be,  I  hope,  a  per- 
manent appeal  to  the  charity  and  alms  of  the  Faithful  in 
behalf  of  your  great  work;  and  perhaps  some  one  who 
reads  them  may  help  to  finish  your  church,  or  may  found 
a  burse  for  the  education  of  a  missionary.  May  God  pro- 
sper you,  and  bring  you  home  in  safety. 

Believe  me  always 

Yours  very  affectionately  in  Christ, 

*  HENRY  EDWAED, 

Archbishop  of  Westminster. 

November  23, 1871. 


OUK  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN. 


The  charity  of  Christ  presseth  us.   2  Cor.,  v.  14 

'  THE  charity  of  Christ  urgeth  us ;'  that  is  to  say, 
the  consciousness  of  the  love  of  our  Lord  to  us  is  our 
motive  and  our  impulse  to  do  His  will.  For,  in  their 
first  and  proper  sense,  these  words  do  not  signify  the 
love  that  we  bear  to  Him,  but  the  love  that  He  bears 
to  us.'  The  personal  love  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  is 
the  motive,  the  impulse,  and  the  source  of  our  love 
to  Him ;  it  is,  therefore,  the  constraining  principle 
of  our  actions.  For  this  cause  you  have  consecrated 
yourselves  and  this  sanctuary  and  the  work  of  your 
future  life  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  It  is  the 
Fountain  of  all  Missions  :  of  all  pastoral  and  Apos- 
tolic zeal.  The  Sacred  Heart  is  the  true  Seminary 
of  all  who  evangelise  the  world.  The  chief  thought, 
then,  in  our  minds  to-day  is  the  love  of  our  divine 
Redeemer  for  us ;  and  our  first  question  will  be : 
Lord,  what  wouldst  Thou  have  me  do  ? 


346         OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN. 

The  spring  of  our  service  and  of  our  sanctification 
through  Jesus  Christ  may  be  expressed  in  these  few 
words :  the  personal  love  of  our  Divine  Master  to  us, 
and  our  personal  relation  to  Him.  They  who  are 
conscious  of,  and  governed  hy,  these  two  great  mys- 
teries of  Divine  love  are  new  creatures ;  old  things 
are  passed  away,  all  things  have  become  new.  The 
charity  of  God  was  poured  in  Baptism  into  our  hearts 
by  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  by  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
we  became  living  members  of  the  mystical  Body  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  therefore  the  source 
of  all  our  love,  of  all  our  inspirations,  of  all  our  actions. 
As  the  Apostle  says  :  '  With  Christ  I  am  nailed  to  the 
Cross  :  and  I  live,  now  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me ; 
and  that  I  live  now  in  the  flesh,  I  live  in  the  faith  of 
'the  Son  of  God,  Who  loved  me  and  delivered  Himself 
for  me.'1  That  is,  He  has  made  me  a  living  member 
of  His  Body,  and  He  is  my  Head  :  from  Him  descends 
the  light,  the  guidance,  the  inspiration,  the  impulse, 
the  strength,  which  governs  me.  He  lives  in  me.  As 
my  body  lives  by  the  soul  that  quickens  it,  so  my 
soul  lives  by  Christ. 

Now,  this  is  the  one  true  motive  which  brings 
us  here.  We  are  met  together  for  a  special  solemnity, 
and  for  a  work  which  is  very  near  to  our  hearts.  I 
>  Gal.  ii.  19,  20. 


OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN.         347 

will  not  say  that  we  meet  to-day  for  the  foundation 
of  this  missionary  college,  because  already  two  years 
are  past  since  it  began ;  but  to-day  is  its  more  solemn 
and  more  public  opening.  Let  us  think  a  moment 
for  what  purpose  we  are  here.  We  .are  a  mere  hand- 
ful, in  this  rude  chapel  of  wood,  which,  because  rude, 
is  more  fitting  for  those  who  are  set  apart  for  the 
work  of  foreign  missions,  for  the  raising  of  altars  in 
forests  and  on  mountain-sides,  where  the  lonely  log- 
hut  is  the  noblest  structure  men  can  build  for  the 
worship  of  the  Word  made  Flesh.  Our  motive  is  the 
love  of  Christ,  urging  us  on,  and  urging  us  whither  ? 
Out  of  ourselves,  first,  to  care  for  the  souls  of  others ; 
next,  out  of  our  own  land,  to  care  for  those  that  are 
far  off;  out  of  Christendom  itself,  to  seek  those  for 
whom  He  shed  His  blood  among  the  heathen  nations 
of  the  world.  It  is  a  portion  of  that  impulse  from 
heaven,  by  which  the  Church  of  God  has  been  carried 
onward  and  outward,  always  expanding,  from  the  day 
of  Pentecost.  If  we  love  Him,  we  shall  desire  the  con- 
version of  all  mankind.  We  are  bound  as  Chris- 
tians, not  only  to  pray  for  the  conversion  of  the  hea- 
then, but,  according  as  we  may,  to  labour  for  it.  You 
in  your  homes,  in  the  narrow  range  of  your  daily  life, 
and  we,  not  only  in  our  country,  but,  if  He  so  wills, 
in  distant  lands.  We  are  all  bound  to  labour  toge- 


348         OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN. 

tlier,  for  so  did  the  faithful  with  the  Apostles  and 
Evangelists  of  Jesus  Christ:  and  so  may^you  unite 
with  us. 

To  this  we  are  bound  by  many  obligations.  First, 
it  is  the  eternal  will  of  God  that  every  creature  He 
has  made  shall  participate  in  the  bliss  and  knowledge 
of  His  saving  and  eternal  love.  To  that  end,  He  de- 
sires that  the  knowledge  of  Himself,  of  His  Incarnate 
Son,  the  Eedeemer  of  the  world,  of  His  precious 
Blood,  of  the  Seven  Sacraments  of  grace,  of  all  the 
mysteries  of  Christianity,  shall  be  spread  abroad,  so 
that  the  Gospel  maybe  known  to  all  mankind.  This, 
then,  is  His  eternal  will. 

But  again ;  we,  as  Christians,  and  partakers  of 
His  precious  Blood,  are  nurtured  and  sustained  by  it 
day  by  day  in  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Altar.  If  we  have 
partaken  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  the  Sacred 
Heart  dwells  in  our  hearts ;  and  if  so,  He  has  in- 
scribed on  our  minds  the  precepts  of  charity,  which 
are  more  deeply  imprinted  there  than  by  the  written 
letters  of  His  command.  He  has  said :  '  Freely  you 
have  received,  freely  give.'  A  Christian  with  a 
closed  heart  and  a  narrow  hand  is  faithless  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  And  again  He  has  said : 
'  Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  to  you.'  As  it  hath 
been  given,  so  give,  and  it  shall  be  given  to  you 


OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN.         349 

again  —  full  measure,  pressed  down,  running  over. 
This  is  the  law  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  written  on  our 
own. 

But  He  has  also  laid  on  us  an  explicit  command. 
He  has  said :  '  Go  into  the  whole  world,  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature.'  *  All  power  is  given 
to  Me ;  go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations.'  'You 
shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me  .  .  .  even  to  the  utter- 
most part  of  the  earth.'  A  command  is  here  laid  on 
us ;  a  necessity  to  teach  all  nations. 

It  is  the  love  of  our  Lord,  then,  which  constrains 
us  to  the  work  of  foreign  missions.  Upon  us,  as 
Catholics  who  have  inherited  the  only  faith,  is  laid 
the  necessity  of  spreading  His  saving  Name.  To 
stimulate  our  zeal,  and  to  put  us  to  shame,  those  who 
have  only  a  broken  Christianity  are  labouring,  giving 
alms,  and  denying  themselves,  for  the  purpose  of  spread- 
ing the  truths  they  know  throughout  the  world.  To  us 
above  all  this  duty  is  imperative ;  to  us,  as  Catholic 
Christians,  who  have  inherited  the  perfect  faith,  and 
the  only  Name  whereby  men  may  be  saved,  who 
know  the  one  only  Baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
the  one  only  fold,  under  the  one  only  Shepherd — the 
narrow  and  only  gate,  the  only  path,  besides  which 
no  other  is  revealed,  to  the  eternal  kingdom.  Woe 
to  us,  if  wo  preach  not  the  Gospel.  Is  it  possible 


850         OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN. 

that  we  can  rest,  if  we  have  not  at  least  prayed 
for  the  conversion  of  those  who  sit  in  darkness 
and  in  the  shadow  of  death  ?  It  has  been  well  said, 
that  the  man  who  does  not  daily  pray  for  the  conver- 
sion of  Israel  can  have  little  desire  for  the  glory  of 
the  Church.  The  light  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  has 
fallen  upon  us,  while  darkness  is  spread  over  His 
ancient  people ;  but  there  is  a  day  coming  when  the 
light  will  fall  again  on  them,  and  we  who  are  in  the 
light  are  bound  to  pray,  to  strive,  to  labour  that  we 
may  hasten  its  coming.  How  can  a  man  have  the 
love  of  our  Lord  and  of  the  salvation  of  souls,  who 
does  not  pray  every  day  that  the  light  of  salvation 
may  be  spread  throughout  the  world  among  the  na- 
tions now  in  darkness  ?  If  this  be  true  of  all  men, 
we  more  than  all  others  are  bound  to  pray  and  to 
labour  for  the  heathen.  Every  motive  of  faith,  of 
charity,  of  gratitude,  binds  us  to  this  work. 

There  is  also  another  motive  which  I  may  add, 
though  I  admit  that  it  is  inferior  altogether  to  those 
already  spoken  of.  It  chiefly  appeals  to  us,  if  I 
may  so  say,  as  a  reproof  and  a  reproach  to  us.  I 
know  that  the  greatest  missionaries  of  the  world  have 
been  those  who  have  partaken  least  in  worldly  power  : 
and  yet  to  possess  worldly  power,  to  reign  over  the 
earth,  and  to  overshadow  the  nations  of  mankind,  is 


OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN.         851 

a  providential  call,  as  it  is  a  providential  means  to 
spread  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ.  Though  we 
are  one  people,  we  are  of  a  race  mingled  with  the 
blood  of  many  nations ;  we  belong  to  a  vast  empire ; 
to  an  empire  which  has  succeeded  to  a  sway  and  a  do- 
minion like  that  of  Imperial  Eome  in  other  days.  On 
us,  therefore,  lies  the  duty  which  God  in  His  provi- 
dence lays  upon  those  who  have  such  power  in  trust : 
and  although  nations  and  empires  cannot  stand  at 
the  bar  of  Judgment,  we,  one  by  one,  who  share  this 
power,  have  responsibilities,  and  we  shall  have  to  an- 
swer for  them.  God  gives  reward  and  punishment 
to  empires  in  this  life ;  in  the  next,  they  have  no 
personality  and  no  retribution.  Nevertheless,  those 
who  belong  to  them,  and  therefore  partake  of  their 
gifts,  will  have  a  great  account  to  give.  England, 
great  in  empire,  unhappy  in  its  heresies  and  schisms, 
knows  not  the  time  of  its  visitation.  It  has  spread 
abroad  the  poisons  of  a  corrupt  civilisation.  Its 
heresies  and  schisms  -have  been  carried,  not  only  into 
our  own  colonies,  but  into  other  lands.  The  result 
has  been,  ruin  and  extermination  to  those  whom  we 
ought  to  have  converted  to  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The 
evils  of  a  corrupt  civilisation  have  spread,  and  are 
still  spreading,  like  a  deadly  pestilence.  The  Catho- 
lic Church,  in  these  kingdoms  beat  down,  martyred, 


352         OUK  DUTY  TO  1HE  HEATHEN. 

and  reduced  to  a  remnant,  had  in  past  days  littla 
power  to  send  missions  to  heathen  lands.  But  God's 
ways  are  wonderful.  In  Borne  of  old,  for  three  hun- 
dred years,  the  Church  suffered  persecution.  Had 
it  been  possible  for  the  power  of  man  to  extinguish 
the  Church  of  God,  it  would  have  been  extinguished. 
For  three  hundred  years  it  was  persecuted,  for  three 
hundred  years  it  became  vigorous  and  strong:  and 
after  those  three  hundred  years  were  passed,  when, 
wearied  with  slaying,  emperors  ceased  to  persecute, 
Christianity  on  the  great  imperial  roads  traversed  far 
and  wide ;  took  possession  of  the  lines  which  Rome 
had  prepared ;  and  the  Church  of  God  expanded  its 
organisation  through  the  world.  So  is  it  with  us. 
Three  hundred  years  of  penal  laws  and  persecution 
have  swept  over  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  If 
it  had  been  possible  to  extinguish  the  Church  of  God, 
it  would  have  been  extinguished  long  ago  :  but  its 
imperishable  life  has  strengthened,  expanded,  and  is 
more  vigorous  and  mightier  than  ever.  After  three 
hundred  years  of  persecution,  the  persecutor  is  weary. 
He  will  do  nothing  for  the  Church  of  God ;  but  he 
must  set  it  free — he  must  give  it  liberty :  the  limbs 
have  grown  too  strong  for  bonds,  and  throughout  the 
British  empire  the  Catholic  Church  has  spread  it- 
self. There  are  more  Bishops  united  to  the  Holy  See 


OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN.         853 

j'  tlie  shadow  of  the  British  empire  than  are  to 
be  found  united  to  the  civil  supremacy  of  any  other 
crown.  The  Catholic  Church  has  used  it  as  the  ma- 
terial preparation  for  its  expansion,  has  taken  pos- 
session of  its  world-wide  unity,  has  worked  under 
the  shelter  of  its  civil  laws,  making  ready  for  a  future 
of  which  we  see  only  the  beginning. 

But  this  Seminary  is  not  for  missions  in  the 
colonies.  Its  work  is  not  to  be  confined  to  the 
limits  of  our  possessions,  nor  of  our  empire.  Its 
express  intention  is  to  go  to  those  heathen  lands  for 
which  England  has  no  provision. 

France,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  founded  a 
humble  society  for  foreign  missions.  It  was  the 
work  of  a  few  secular  priests.  It  has  at  this  time  I 
know  not  how  many  missionaries — how  many  mar- 
tyrs. Among  the  youth  of  France  there  is  a  fervent 
and  devoted  vocation  for  this  work.  Many  are  al- 
ways gathered  together  in  that  lowly  house  in  Paris, 
awaiting  their  call  to  fill  some  martyr's  place.  If  you 
would  see  the  true  glory  of  France,  go  to  that  semi- 
nary. Go  into  the  room  in  which  are  laid  up  the 
relics  of  those  martyrs.  Around  the  walls  are  the 
vestments,  the  stoles,  the  office -books,  the  manu- 
scripts, the  little  personal  memorials  which  record 
the  name,  the  history,  the  characters  of  those  who 

AA 


354         OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN. 

have  laid  down  their  lives  for  Jesus  Christ.  With 
these  are  to  be  seen  the  instruments  of  torture,  the 
very  weapons  by  which  their  lives  were  taken.  All  these 
are  cherished  as  sacred  admonitions.  In  that  hall  I 
have  seen  the  young  candidates  for  martyrdom  pre- 
paring for  their  missionary  work ;  it  may  be  for  their 
crown;  kneeling  before  these  relics,  commending 
themselves  to  the  prayers  of  those  whose  memories 
are  there  in  veneration.  There  is  among  them  a 
beautiful  and  touching  ceremony,  whenever  one  of 
their  comrades  is  to  go  forth  to  other  lands.  The 
missionary  who  is  about  to  depart,  after  the  holy 
Mass  is  celebrated,  stands  upon  the  step  of  the  altar ; 
while  the  choir  sings  the  words  of  the  prophet  Isaias  : 
'  How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of 
those  who  preach  the  glad  tidings  of  peace,'  his  com- 
panions, one  by  one,  kneel  and  kiss  his  feet.  Such 
is  their  farewell.  The  missionary  goes  forth,  per- 
haps to  be  seen  no  more ;  and  when  in  after  years 
the  tidings  of  his  martyrdom  come  home,  there  is 
a  contest,  a  rivalry  of  charity,  which  of  them  shall 
have  the  grace  and  the  glory  to  fill  his  place.  Such 
a  work  was  begun  by  a  humble  priest  in  France ;  why 
may  not  we  in  England  do  the  same  ? 

Ireland  has  already  done  likewise.  The  Holy  Sacri- 
fice to-day  will  be  offered  by  one  who  has  long  been  a 


OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN.         355 

member,  and  for  some  time  was  the  head,  of  the 
first  missionary  college  in  Ireland.  Out  of  its  walls 
have  come  forth  true  apostles  and  evangelists,  now 
labouring  in  foreign  lands.  About  twenty  or  thirty 
years  ago,  there  was  a  humble  priest,  born  not  far 
from  Tara,  in  the  very  land  where  St.  Patrick  began 
his  mission.  This  humble  youth  became  first  a  stu- 
dent, then  a  member  of  a  college,  with  hardly  any 
prospect  before  him  ;  at  last  he  became  a  priest.  He 
then  thought  to  offer  himself  as  a  son  of  St.  Vin- 
cent of  Paul :  but  God's  Holy  Spirit,  Who  guided 
him,  gave  him  to  know  that  he  had  another  work,  and 
that  his  work  was  the  foundation  of  the  College  of  All 
Hallows.  In  that  college  the  work  began  ;  it  opened 
with  one  student.  After  three  years,  the  founder  died, 
at  the  early  age  of  thirty  -  six ;  but  he  lived  to  see 
sixty  students  gathered  under  its  roof.  The  work 
was  founded,  and  since  then  it  has  sent  out  no  fewer 
than  three  hundred  priests.  Fifty  Bishops  are  in 
communication  with  All  Hallows,  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  their  dioceses  are  continually  helped 
by  that  seminary. 

And  we  also  are  not  idle.  Two  years  ago,  the 
priest  to  whom  my  predecessor  committed  the  foun- 
dation of  this  work,  with  one  student  and  five  or 
six  of  the  Oblates  of  St.  Charles,  were  gathered  to- 


356         OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN. 

gether  in  this  house.  After  two  years  \ve  meet 
again.  This  Seminary  has  not  indeed  sixty  students, 
but  the  number  is  growing  and  giving  promise,  and 
some  are  already  in  holy  orders.  This  is  the  be- 
ginning of  a  work,  which,  as  in  Ireland  and  in 
Paris,  depends  upon  God  and  upon  your  fidelity.  I 
feel  that  upon  me  rests,  I  will  not  say  the  responsi- 
bility of  assisting  in  it,  but  the  happiness  and  the 
grace  of  having  had  to  share  in  its  commencement. 
One  of  my  first  acts  of  public  duty  was,  to  accept  in 
full  this  work  of  Foreign  Missions,  bequeathed  by 
my  predecessor  to  my  trust ;  and,  while  I  have  life, 
I  hope  to  promote  it  to  the  utmost  of  my  strength. 

And  now  what  can  we  do  for  its  promotion  ?  As 
yet,  it  has  had  no  expansion  among  us ;  but  it  is  my 
intention  to  invite  the  faithful  who  shall  be  in  the 
diocese  next  Easter  to  meet  together,  and  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  society,  which,  I  trust,  under  God, 
may  spread  throughout  England,  and  of  which  this 

college  may  be  the  centre.  "VVe  have  as  yet  no  society 

i 
or  association  for  the  propagation  of  the  faith  among 

the  heathen.  In  England,  there  is  not  as  yet  that 
which  France  possesses,  and  even  Ireland  has  formed ; 
and  we  are  debtors  to  our  divine  Lord,  to  bear  our 
part  likewise  in  this  missionary  work.  Next  Easter, 
then,  the  feast  on  which  the  power,  the  unity,  and  the 


OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN.         857 

universality  of  the  Church  will  be  in  all  our  hearts, 
I  hope  we  may  lay  the  foundation  of  such  an  expan- 
sion of  this  work  as  shall  secure  its  solidity  and  its 
strength  for  ever. 

I  will  now  only  ask  two  things  from  you  :  first, 
to  give  and  to  gather  what  alms  you  can  for  the  in- 
crease and  maintenance  of  students  in  this  place. 

Look  over  the  world ;  there  are  some  eight  or 
nine  hundred  millions  of  souls,  of  whom  not  more 
than  one -third  at  most  are  Christians.  The  har- 
vest, indeed,  is  plenteous.  Would  to  God  I  could 
Bay,  the  fields  are  white  for  the  reaping.  They  are 
not  white  :  they  are  blackened  and  blighted.  Out 
of  this  world -wide  field  of  human  misery  and  sin 
there  go  streaming  multitudes  of  eternal  souls,  hour 
by  hour — souls  that  can  never  die,  created  in  the 
image  and  likeness  of  God,  redeemed  in  the  precious 
Blood  of  the  Son  of  God  Incarnate,  who  never  yet 
have  heard  His  saving  Name.  Is  it  possible  that 
we  can  refuse,  or  even  be  insensible  to,  such  a  claim 
as  this  ?  Give  of  your  alms  to  multiply  the  number 
of  these  few  labourers.  This  little  handful  of  stu- 
dents will  go  and  join  themselves  to  the  bands  of 
missionaries  who  from  other  lands  are  going  forth  to 
labour  among  the  perishing  heathen. 

The  other  thing  I  have  to  ask  of  you  is  easier  to 


858         OUR  DUTY  TO  THE  HEATHEN. 

give  than  alms,  but  more  powerful  with  God.  Say 
every  day  at  least  one  Hail  Mary,  in  honour  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  Ask  in  faith,  that  through 
the  prayers  of  our  Immaculate  Mother  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  our  dear  Lord,  this  little  work  may,  like  a 
seed  which  is  imperishable,  be  for  ever  and  abund- 
antly multiplied ;  that  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
may  come  down  upon  it ;  and  that  what  we  begin  to- 
day in  our  weakness  may  be  prospered  by  the  powei 
of  God. 


XII. 

MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OP 
LOVE: 

At  the  Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  July  16,  1871. 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF 
LOVE. 


He  said  to  him  the  third  time :  Simon,  son  of  John,  lovest  thou 
Me  ?  Peter  was  grieved  because  He  had  said  to  him  the  third 
time :  Lovest  thou  Me?  And  he  said  to  Him :  Lord,  Thou  know- 
est  all  things ;  Thou  knowest  that  I  love  Thee.  He  said  to  him : 
Feed  My  sheep.  ST.  JOHN  xxi.  17. 

THESE  are  words  of  divine  power,  which  have  moved 
the  world.  They  are  also  words  of  divine  pity,  which 
reveal  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  in  all  the  tender- 
ness of  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  in  all  the  compas- 
sion of  the  Absolver  of  Penitents.  Three  times  He 
asked  of  Peter  :  '  Lovest  thou  Me  ?'  for  three  times 
Peter  had  denied  him.  So  tenderly  and  so  sweetly, 
without  an  explicit  word,  He  brought  to  remembrance 
his  threefold  sin  of  infidelity  to  his  Divine  Master. 
Peter,  well  taught  by  the  experience  of  his  own  in- 
firmity, answering,  said :  '  Lord,  Thou  knowest  all 
things ;  Thou  knowest  that  I  love  Thee.'  He  no 
longer  made  professions,  he  no  longer  spoke  out  of 
the  blindness  of  his  own  self -trust;  he  appealed 
only  to  the  Saci'ed  Heart  to  confirm  the  truth  of  his 


862      MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE. 

words,  that,  faithless  as  he  had  heen,  he  loved  his 
Master  still.  Then  three  times  the  charge  was  given, 
by  which  the  test  of  love  was  established  for  ever. 
Let  no  man  say  he  loves  Jesus  who  has  not  the  love 
of  souls.  Let  no  man  think  he  loves  the  Good  Shep- 
herd who  does  not  love  His  flock.  The  test  of  our 
love  is  this  :  '  Feed  My  sheep.  Feed  My  lambs.' 

I  have  said  that  these  are  words  of  Divine  power, 
which  have  moved  the  world.  They  have  revealed  to 
mankind  the  watchful  care  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 
They  have  taught  us  what  is  the  law  of  love  which 
binds  the  Shepherd  to  the  sheep;  they  committed 
to  Peter  the  charge  of  the  whole  flock  on  earth.  They 
created  the  pastoral  office.  They  imposed  on  every 
pastor  the  duty  of  laying  down  his  life,  if  need  be, 
for  the  sheep  for  which  Jesus  shed  His  most  precious 
Blood.  This  commission  is  perpetual,  yet  gathered 
up  in  the  hands  of  one  —  the  Vicar  of  the  Good 
Shepherd — from  whom  the  distribution  of  that  pas- 
toral jurisdiction  goes  forth  for  all  time  and  in  all 
places.  These  words,  spoken  in  the  twilight  of  that 
morning,  and  by  the  sea  of  Tiberias  in  the  stillness 
of  the  solitary  shore,  are  full  of  living  power  to  this 
day.  When  our  divine  Lord  gave  to  His  Church 
the  pastoral  commission  to  make  disciples  of  all 
nations,  He  gave  to  it  also  the  love  of  His  own 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE.         363 

Sacred  Heart.  He  had  said,  '  I  am  coine  to  cast  firo 
on  the  earth.'  He  cast  upon  His  Apostles  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost  the  fire  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  fire 
of  charity,  the  fire  of  the  love  of  God,  the  live  coals 
from  the  altar,  the  burning  embers  from  the  golden 
censer  of  the  Divine  Heart  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 
They  went  forth  into  the  world  to  set  on  fire  the 
nations  of  the  earth  with  the  love  of  God,  and  the 
love  of  all  mankind.  From  that  hour  this  sacred 
flame  has  never  been  extinguished.  It  has  burned 
day  and  night  in  the  tabernacle  upon  the  altar,  and 
in  all  hearts  in  whom  Jesus  dwells.  Apostles  and 
Evangelists,  Bishops  and  Pastors,  Missionaries  and 
Priests  of  the  Church  of  God,  from  that  hour  to 
this,  in  so  far  as  they  have  been  conformed  to  their 
Divine  Master,  have  thirsted  for  the  salvation  of 
mankind. 

What,  then,  are  the  motives  of  this  love  of 
souls?  The  love  of  Jesus  our  Lord';  His  own  com- 
mandment, because  it  is  His  will ;  His  own  example, 
because  it  is  our  law.  Unless  we  love  our  neigh- 
bour as  ourselves,  we  cannot  have  the  love  of  God 
in  us.  St.  John  has  said :  '  We  know  that  we  have 
passed  from  death  to  life,  because  we  love  the  bre- 
thren. Ho  that  loveth  not,  abideth  in  death.'1 
>  1  St.  John  iii.  14. 


OG'l        MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE. 

Therefore,  if  the  love  of  God  be  in  us,  the  love  of 
souls  will  be  in  us  too.  I  speak  the  truth,  and  your 
consciences  bear  witness  to  me,  that  the  love  of  souls, 
as  a  sensible  emotion,  is  not  often  found  in  us. 
Bat  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  love  of  God.  The 
sensible  love  of  God  is  not  to  be  found  in-  any  high 
degree  in  many  who  love  God  well.  We  are  bound 
to  love  God  above  all  things,  it  is  true ;  but  the 
lovo  whereby  we  must  so  love  Him  is  the  love  of  ap- 
preciation, the  love  which  measures  the  greatness  of 
God  according  to  His  dignity.  So  also  I  may  say 
of  the  love  of  souls.  It  is  not  the  sensible  or  emo- 
tional love  which  we  feel  to  a  friend  or  a  kinsman.  It 
is  rather  a  sense  of  duty,  which  makes  us  willing  to 
suffer  anything  for  their  sakes.  It  is  the  effective  love 
which  will  move  us  to  do  acts  of  charity  to  persons 
who  may  be  remote,  or  even  repulsive  to  us.  For 
the  love  of  souls  also  is  a  love  of  appreciation.  We 
must  appreciate  what  a  soul  is.  And  in  these  days, 
when  society  is  breathing  the  cold  atmosphere  of  un- 
belief, and  the  literature  that  men  read,  and  the  philo- 
sophy that  they  hear,  disputes  the  very  existence  of 
the  soul,  and  even  of  God  Himself,  we  are  bound  all 
the  more  to  watch  and  to  pray  that  the  fire  of  the  Sa- 
cred Heart  may  be  kept  alive  in  us.  We  are  bound, 
ono  by  one,  by  prayer  and  self-denial,  to  kindle,  and 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE.         8G5 

to  keep  alive,  the  grace  of  love  which  we  have  re- 
ceived in  baptism ;  when  '  the  charity  of  God  was 
poured  forth  into  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
Who  is  given  to  us.'2 

How,  then,  shall  we  rightly  appreciate  a  soul? 
Measure  it  as  the  Word  of  God  has  revealed  it. 

1.  A  soul  is  the  most  perfect,  the  most  precious 
wor^  of  God.  It  is  the  nature  which  is  next  to  His 
own ;  it  is  nearest  to  His  own  glory ;  ib  reflects  most 
perfectly  His  own  beauty.  There  is  nothing  more 
beautiful  than  a  soul,  except  God  alone.  Our  Lord 
has  said,  that  '  the  just  shall  shine  as  the  sun,  in 
the  kingdom  of  their  Father.'3  The  beauty  of  the 
sun  in  its  strength  our  Lord  takes  for  an  example  of 
the  beauty  of  the  soul.  The  soul  is  the  most  perfect 
work  of  God,  reflecting  His  own  attributes  with  the 
greatest  clearness ;  reflecting  His  own  intelligence 
and  Hie  own  will :  that  is,  He  has  communicated 
to  us  the  power  of  knowing  and  of  originating  our 
own  actions,  in  like  manner  as  He  does  Himself. 
Where,  then,  is  there  to  be  found  a  work  of  God  which 
for  beauty,  perfection,  or  dignity,  compares  with  a 
human  soul  ?  The  little  children  in  the  street,  who 
meet  us  bareheaded,  barefooted,  on  the  pathway, 
are  every  one  of  them  created  in  the  Image  of  God. 

*  Rom.  v.  5.  *  St.  Matt.  Tiii.  43. 


366        MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE. 

The  holy  Angels  see  that  beauty  and  that  dignity, 
though  we  pass  them  by. 

2.  Again :  if  we  wish  to  measure  the  true  value 
of  a  soul,  let  us  look  stedfastly  until  we  see  the  red 
spot  of  the  most  Precious  Blood  upon  it.   Every  seve- 
ral soul  was  bought  by  the  Precious  Blood  of  Jesus, 
which  is  infinite  in  price.     A  ransom  was  given  for 
it  which  is  infinite  in  value;  and  if  the  ransom  be  in- 
finite in  worth,  what  is  the  worth  of  a  soul,  for  which 
it  was  given  ?     In  the  appreciation   of  God,   every 
soul  has  upon  it  the  price  of  the  Precious  Blood  of 
His  Incarnate  Son.     It  is  the  object  of  an  infinite 
love ;  and  if  a  soul  be  infinitely  loved,  what  must  be 
its  value  ?  And  if  the  sufferings  of  an  Infinite  Person 
were  measured,  what  would  be  the  price  before  God 
of  a  soul  for  which  they  were  endured  ?     The  soul  is 
dear  to  a.  Will  Infinite  in  benevolence,  Which  would 
die  again,  if  need  were,  for  its  redemption. 

3.  And  farther;  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  every 
soul  has  in  it  an  immense  capacity  for  life  and  bliss. 
I  say  immense,  because  we  cannot  tell  the  measure. 
Infinite  it  is  not,  because  the  soul  is  finite ;  but  no 
man  can  conceive  the  measure  of  the  knowledge  of 
God,  to  which  a  soul  illuminated  by  faith  may  reach  ; 
no  one  can   imagine  the  immensity  of  the  love  of 
God,  to  which  a  soul  inflamed  by  the  Holy  Ghost 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE.         367 

may  ascend;  no  one  can  imagine  the  perfection  of 
will,  which  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost  may 
be  attained.  The  souls  of  the  little  children  that 
perish  in  our  streets  are  ennobled  with  that  capacity. 
They  have  received  the  inheritance  of  the  beatific 
vision,  of  a  bliss  and  glory  which  cannot  be  con- 
ceived. 'Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor 
hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  what  things 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him.'4 

4.  Once  more :  if,  on  the  one  hand,  a  soul  is  in- 
finite in  this  capacity  for  life  and  bliss,  it  has  also 
the  same  capacity  for  misery  and  death.  A  soul 
created  to  the  image  of  God,  capable  of  knowing  and 
loving  God,  if  it  fall  short  of  the  end  of  its  creation, 
if  it  be  deprived  of  the  vision  of  God  for  ever,  no 
human  mind  can  conceive  its  anguish  for  all  eter- 
nity. It  is  not  in  our  hearts  to  imagine  this  mystery 
of  eternal  pain.  A  stone  cast  into  the  flame  suffers 
nothing.  If  a  dog  were  cast  into  eternal  fire,  it 
would  not  have  the  capacity  of  exquisite  pain  which 
only  a  soul  created  to  the  image  of  God  can  know. 
And  yet  souls  that  are  about  us  all  day  long,  the 
millions  that  we  see  thronging  this  great  city,  are 
hanging  between  life  and  death.  Their  eternity  is  in 
the  balance.  One  way  or  the  other  the  scale  must 
«  1  Cor.  ii.  9. 


8G8        MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OP  LOVE. 

incline  at  last.  Therefore  another  element  in  the 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  souls  is  this,  that  all 
day  long,  in  every  moment,  souls  are  perishing 
throughout  the  world.  We  know  not  ho\v  many 
tens  of  thousands  every  day  are  passing  out  from 
this  life  of  sin,  from  the  darkness  of  this  world, 
into  the  overwhelming  splendours  of  the  Throne, 
where  they  shall  he  judged  by  their  Maker  and 
Redeemer.  The  condition  of  the  heathen  world  is 
too  terrible  for  anything  but  the  pen  of  an  inspired 
writer.  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  has 
drawn  out  that  picture,  and  has  described  the  state 
of  a  soul  without  the.  knowledge  of  God.  A  soul 
that  knows  not  God  grows  rank  by  that  very  dark- 
ness. The  soul  of  man  without  the  light  of  the  Di- 
vine presence  becomes  morally  dead,  distorted,  and 
degraded  beyond  all  that  we  can  conceive.  And 
such  is  now  the  state  of  the  heathen  world ;  for  out 
of  nine  hundred  millions  of  souls,  not  one  half  as  yet 
has  heard  the  name  of  Him  by  whom  alone  they  can 
be  saved. 

Such,  then,  is  the  love  of  appreciation,  and  such 
are  its  motives.  .And  now  let  me  apply  what  I  have 
said  to  the  subject  before  us  to-day. 

The  duty  of  every  Christian  is  to  labour  first  for 
the  salvation  of  his  own  soul.  The  rational  love  of 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE.         869 

self  is  taken  as  the  measure  of  the  love  of  our  neigh- 
bour. When  we  see  the  value  of  a  soul  in  ourselves, 
\ve  shall  then  learn  to  value  our  neighbour's  soul  also. 
You  remember,  when  God  asked  of  Cain  :  '  "Where  is 
thy  brother  Abel  ?'  Cain,  in  whom  the  love  of  God 
was  dead,  answered :  '  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ?' 
That  malicious  answer  was  reversed  when  the  second 
Adam  asked  of  Peter  :  '  Lovest  thou  Me  ?'  and  gave, 
as  the  test  of  love  :  '  Feed  My  sheep.'  Every  Chris- 
tian, then,  is  bound  to  labour  according  to  his  power 
for  the  salvation  of  men.  Every  priest,  pastor,  mis- 
sionary, father,  mother,  master,  mistress,  neighbour, 
friend — every  one  who  has  influence,  every  one  who, 
by  his  word  and  example,  by  the  watchful  use  of 
opportunities,  by  the  vigilance  with  which  he  can 
foresee  and  can  avert  the  danger  of  others,  is  bound 
to  labour,  each  in  his  place,  and  according  to  his 
power,  for  his  neighbour's  salvation. 

There  are  indeed  various  classes  who  demand  this 
duty  of  charity  of  us.  And  first  of  all,  the  multi- 
tude of  children  whose  education  is  committed  to  our 
charge.  If  we  do  not  love  their  souls,  we  have  not  the 
love  of  God  :  if  we  do  not  love  the  lambs  of  the  flock 
01  ihe  Good  Shepherd,  we  have  not  His  love  in  us : 
if  we  can  look  upon  the  sins  of  men  without  the 
emotions  of  charity  which  impel  us  to  labour  for 

BB 


870         MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE. 

their  salvation,  we  have  not  in  us  the  love  of  the 
Sacred  Heart :  if  we  have  not  pity  and  compassion 
for  penitents,  even  in  their  relapses,  we  have  not  in 
us  the  patience  of  our  Divine  Master :  if  we  have  not 
a  tender  and  sensitive  love  for  the  poor,  so  as  to  prac- 
tise some  self-denial  for  their  temporal  and  spiritual 
good;  if  this  does  not  form  part  of  our  actions  day 
by  day,  then  the  love  of  Jesus  must  be  faint  in  us. 

And  where  there  is  the  love  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
it  will  go  beyond  the  boundaries  of  our  own  country. 
If  we  have  not  in  us  the  love  of  the  heathen,  because 
they  are  souls,  because  they  bear  the  Image  of  God, 
and  are  daily  perishing ;  if  this  is  not  a  practical  mo- 
tive in  us,  the  love  of  our  neighbour  at  home  will  cer- 
tainly be  faint  also.  The  Church  of  God  has  been 
on  fire  from  the  beginning  with  this  missionary  zeal. 
The  apostolic  labours  of  the  Church  are  a  record  of 
the  most  heroic  and  saintly  actions  the  world  has  ever 
known.  This  zeal  ought  to  be  in  every  one  of  us. 
If  we  cannot  ourselves  go  on  foreign  missions,  we 
may  send  others  in  our  stead ;  but  missionaries  can- 
not go,  unless  we  prepare  the  way. 

Every  Christian  country  is  bound  by  great  obli- 
gations to  spread  the  light  of  faith.  But  there  are 
some  that  are  bound  more  than  others.  There  was  a 
time  when  Spain  had  an  empire  from  sunrise  to  sun- 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE.         871 

wet ;  and  Spain  was  then  the  great  missionary  power 
of  the  world.  It  penetrated  into  South  America :  it 
reached  into  the  East.  It  did  its  work  while  the  sun 
of  imperial  splendour  shone  upon  it.  Portugal,  in  like 
manner,  when  a  widespread  dominion  was  entrusted 
to  it,  laboured  as  an  evangelist  in  South  America, 
and  also  in  India.  The  works  of  Spain  and  Portugal 
endure  to  this  day.  The  empire  of  Britain  has  suc- 
ceeded to  a  vaster  dominion.  It  is  therefore  burdened 
with  a  responsibility,  for  which,  if  empires  cannot 
give  an  account,  nevertheless  all  who  belong  to  it  will 
have  to  give  a  reckoning  at  the  last  day.  And  for 
what  shall  we  have  to  reckon  in  that  great  account  ? 
We  are  in  contact  with  every  nation  upon  earth. 
Our  commerce  traverses  every  sea,  and  reaches  every 
shore;  we  are  mingled  with  every  race;  we  have 
learned  to  speak  the  language  of  every  people ; 
we  have  made  our  home  on  the  shores  of  almost 
every  nation  of  the  world  ;  we  are  mingled  with  the 
human  race  more  widely  than  any  empire  that  ever 
was,  not  excepting  even  old  Rome  itself.  These  are 
our  opportunities,  the  open  doors  for  the  entrance 
of  the  truth,  for  which  we  must  give  account. 

But  there  is  a  dark  side  in  this  reckoning.  What 
has  the  empire  of  Britain  done  for  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ  ?  If  we  were  swept  away  to-morrow,  what 


872         MISSIONS  TO    THE  HEATHEN*  A  TEST  OF  LOVE. 

record  would  there  be  upon  the  world  of  the  Chris- 
tianity of  Britain  ?  Our  people  have  carried  their 
religious  doubts  and  errors  and  conflicts  to  those 
unhappy  races  who  are  still  without  the  knowledge 
of  God.  The  poor  Hindoo  has  been  known  to  say : 
*  I  should  like  your  Christianity  very  well,  if  I  could 
only  know  what  form  of  it  to  believe ;  if  only  I  could 
tell  who  among  you  is  right ;  if  you  would  only  agree 
among  yourselves.'  Again,  the  contact  of  our  people 
with  foreign  races  has  introduced  all  the  vices  of 
civilisation.  For  instance,  there  is  the  trade  in  opium 
and  in  intoxicating  drinks.  The  sin  of  drunkenness 
had  once  no  existence  in  the  East.  It  is  a  Christian 
vice.  We  have  been  justly  reproached  by  the  Hin- 
doo, who  says :  '  Wherever  your  British  sway  enters, 
intoxication  follows  it.  Take  away  your  burning 
spirit ;  till  you  came  among  us,  we  knew  it  not.  You 
are  making  a  trade  and  a  revenue  of  it ;  and  wher- 
ever it  enters,  the  Hindoo  perishes.'  These  things 
will  be  written  in  the  records  of  the  British  Empire  : 
and  there  will  also  be  records  of  cruelty  and  of  exter- 
mination, which  make  the  heart  sick.  Such  things 
indeed  are  chiefly  of  the  past ;  but  shall  these  be  the 
only  records  of  our  Christianity  ?  Shall  there  be  no- 
thing left  but  wounds  and  scars  ? 

But  I  can  conceive  that  some  one  may  say  :  '  We 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE.         873 

need  everything  at  home.  "We  have  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  without  education.  Half  the  popu- 
lation of  London  never  go  to  church :  perhaps  half 
have  never  been  baptised ;  or,  if  they  were,  they  live 
as  if  they  never  had  been.  Here  is  our  heathen 
world.  Here  is  our  missionary  work.  Why,  then, 
send  missionaries  into  other  lands  ?'  The  answer 
is :  If  you  wish  to  put  out  a  fire,  you  have  only  to 
stifle  it.  Stifle  the  zeal  of  the  Church,  and  you  ex- 
tinguish it.  Keep  down  the  flame  of  the  love  of  God 
and  of  your  neighbour,  and  it  will  soon  die  out.  This 
answer  would  be  sufficient.  But  we  have  an  ampler 
reply.  Our  divine  Lord  has  promised  :  '  Give,  and 
it  shall  be  given  to  you ;'  and  therefore  if  I  did  not 
know  how  to  find  the  means  even  to  build  a  school, 
I  would  not  refuse  alms  to  send  the  gospel  to  the 
heathen.  Be  assured  that  the  same  Lord,  Who  is 
almighty,  is  also  generous.  He  is  able  and  willing 
to  give  us  all  we  want.  It  is  an  axiom  of  faith,  that 
the  Church  was  never  yet  made  poor  by  giving  its  last 
farthing  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 

There  is  still  another  answer.  It  is  sometimes 
thought,  that  if  we  establish  missionary  colleges  in 
England,  we  shall  lose  the  men  we  want  at  home. 
Not  so.  Let  me  prove  this  by  an  example.  France 
for  two  hundred  years  has  had  in  Paris  a  missionary 


374         MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE. 

college  for  the  heathen.  That  college  was  founded  in 
extreme  poverty,  in  the  heart  of  a  city,  of  which  all 
I  have  said  ahout  London  might  be  well  repeated. 
Calculating  —  not  to  say  grudging  —  hearts,  more 
under  the  light  of  worldly  prudence  than  of  simple 
confidence  in  God,  might  have  asked :  '  Is  it  not 
better  to  try  to  convert  Paris,  than  to  send  the  faith 
to  the  heathen  ?'  Out  of  that  one  house,  there  have 
already  come  forth  many  martyrs.  And  in  the  midst 
of  their  relics,  they  who  aspire  to  the  priesthood,  and 
to  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  form  themselves  in  the 
love  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  In  that  sanctuary  they 
learn  what  theology  cannot  teach  them.  Three  or 
four  years  ago,  when  tidings  reached  that  house  that 
one  of  their  brethren  had  received  his  crown,  the 
maple-tree  in  the  garden  was  illuminated  at  night, 
and  a  Te  Deum  was  sung  under  its  branches,  with 
nine  invocations  to  the  Queen  of  Martyrs. 

In  1862,  Pere  Bonard,  a  missionary  in  Corea, 
the  night  before  his  martyrdom,  thus  wrote  to  his 
friends : 

'  This  is  the  last  letter  I  shall  write  to  you.  The 
solemn  hour  has  struck.  Farewell !  I  make  appoint- 
ments with  all  of  you  who  remember  and  love  me  to 
meet  me  in  heaven.  I  hope  in  the  mercy  of  Jesus, 
and  I  have  a  firm  confidence  that  He  has  pardoned 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE.         375 

my  innumerable  sins.  I  offer,  with  all  my  heart,  my 
hlood  and  my  life  for  the  love  of  my  dear  Master, 
and  for  those  beloved  souls  whom  I  would  have  served 
so  willingly  to  the  best  of  my  power.'  After  other 
words  he  adds  : 

'  I  beseech  you  to  remember  me  before  the  Lord ; 
be  sure  that,  as  I  have  told  you  before,  if  He  has 
mercy  on  my  soul,  I  will  not  forget  you  for  ever. 

'  To-morrow,  Saturday,  the  Feast  of  St.  Philip  and 
St.  James,  the  1st  of  May,  is  the  anniversary  of  the 
entrance  of  M.  Schccffler  into  heaven,  and  I  believe 
it  is  the  day  appointed  for  my  own  sacrifice.  God's 
will  be  done.  Blessed  be  God,  I  die  happy.  I  bid 
farewell  to  all  in  the  Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus  and 
Mary.  In  manus  tuas,  Domine,  commendo  spiritum 
meum.  In  cordibus  Jesu  ct  Maries  osculor  vos,  amid 
mci. 

'  Vinctus  in  Christo,  the  vigil  of  my  death,  April 
30,  1852.' 

Tell  me,  if  you  were  to  receive  that  letter  from  a 
martyred  son  or  brother  in  India,  would  it  not  kindle 
in  your  heart  for  the  rest  of  your  life  a  zeal  for  the 
salvation  of  your  neighbour  that  you  never  knew  be- 
fore ?  Once  more.  Pere  Dorie,  after  a  few  months' 
labour  in  Corea — which  is  truly  called  the  '  Mother 
of  Martyrs,'  by  reason  of  the  cruelty  of  its  people 


376        MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE. 

— was  crowned  with  martyrdom.  When  the  news 
came  to  his  home,  a  Te  Deum  was  sung  in  the  parish 
church,  in  the  presence  of  the  Bishop  of  Lucon  and 
people  of  St.  Hilaire,  with  his  family  and  friends. 
After  the  Te  Deum,  his  brother  came  forward,  and, 
in  the  name  of  his  father  and  mother,  thanked  the 
Bishop  for  his  charity,  and  for  the  honour  shown  to 
his  martyred  brother,  saying  :  '  When  he  left  us,  we 
sacrificed  him  for  God ;  but  we  did  not  know  how 
complete  that  sacrifice  was  to  be.  When  tidings  of 
his  martyrdom  came,  nature  for  a  time  had  its  way  : 
but  we  then  thanked  God  that  we  had  a  Protector 
in  heaven,  in  whose  footsteps,  though  afar  off,  we 
all  resolve  to  follow  day  by  day.' 

Do  you  think,  if  events  like  these  came  b.iek 
upon  us,  they  would  not  have  the  effect  of  exciting 
the  love  of  God  and  of  souls  throughout  England,  so 
as  to  raise  up,  not  only  a  body  of  missionaries  for 
the  Corea,  but  for  London,  and  Glasgow,  and  Bir- 
mingham, and  the  brickfields  of  which  we  read  the 
other  day,  than  which  nothing  more  terrible  is  to  be 
found  in  heathen  lands  ?  If  this  bo  so,  you  will  be 
glad  to  know  that  there  has  been  founded  in  this 
diocese  a  College  for  Foreign  Missions.  It  is  not  a 
college  of  this  diocese  alone,  but  of  the  whole  of 
England,  and  for  all  the  world.  A  priest  whom  I. 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE.         877 

will  not  commend — for,  if  I  were  to  do  so,  you  miglit 
think  that  old  and  tried  affection  biassed  me — some 
ten  years  ago  conceived  the  idea  of  founding  the 
first  missionary  college  in  England^  The  Catholic 
Church  in  England  had  then  no  missionary  institu- 
tion. It  had  only  just  emerged  from  penal  laws.  For 
centuries,  the  Catholics  of  England  had  been  wor- 
shipping in  poverty.  The  Blessed  Sacrament  had, 
indeed,  been  reverently  laid  up  in  the  Tabernacle ; 
but  the  Tabernacle  had  been  housed  in  places  un- 
worthy of  the  worship  of  God.  While  penal  laws  and 
their  effects  were  upon  us,  it  was  not  to  be  supposed 
that  England  could  have  a  missionary  college;  but  no 
sooner  had  the  Church  arisen  from  the  depression  of 
the  past,  than  this  House  of  Missions  was  founded. 
It  was .  one  of  the  chief  desires  of  the  late  Cardinal 
Archbishop.  It  has  received  the  special  benediction 
of  Pius  IX.  It  was  sanctioned  by  all  the  Bishops  of 
England,  at  the  first  public  assembly  of  the  hierarchy, 
apart  from  its  Provincial  Councils,  since  its  restor- 
ation. It  is  not,  therefore,  as  I  have  said,  a  diocesan 
work.  It  is  a  work  of  the  whole  of  England,  open 
to  all  England,  and  to  be  supported  by  the  alms  of 
all  England.  When  I  tell  you  that  it  began  with 
one  priest  and  one  student,  in  a  house  that  was  not 
even  hired,  but  lent,  I  shall  give  you  one  of  the  best 


378         MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE. 

guarantees  for  its  future  prosperity — the  deep  poverty 
of  its  beginning.  The  priest  who  began  this  work 
went  to  North  and  South  America.  The  alms  wjiich 
founded  the  work  came  chiefly,  not  from  England, 
but  from  abroad.  It  was  Northern  and  Southern 
America,  then — foreign  lands,  and  not  England — 
that  laid  the  first  stone  of  this  college.  As  they  have 
so  well  helped  us  to  begin,  we  are  bound  by  every 
obligation  to  carry  it  to  its  completion.  It  has  been 
already  begun  upon  a  scale  to  accommodate  seventy 
students.  Two  -  thirds  of  it  are  built :  the  church 
is  building,  but  a  sum  of  four  thousand  pounds  is 
required  to  complete  the  work.  Year  by  year,  no 
less  than  half  a  million  of  money  is  given  in  England, 
by  those  who  are  not  of  the  unity  of  the  Church, 
for  foreign  missions.  They  manifest  a  zeal  for 
which  I  honour  them.  How  much  is  collected,  year 
by  year,  for  the  only  missionary  college  we  possess  ? 
Scarcely  two  hundred  pounds.  Nevertheless,  let  us 
not  lose  heart.  We  are  only  in  the  outset ;  these 
are  our  tardy  beginnings.  I  feel  confident  that  the 
words  I  speak  now  will  never  be  repeated  again. 
The  Catholics  of  England  at  large  will  abundantly 
contribute  hereafter  to  send  to  the  heathen,  who  are 
perishing,  the  faith  which  God  has  so  miraculously 
preserved  to  them  in  this  land. 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  A  TEST  OF  LOVE.         879 

This,  then,  is  tlie  appeal  I  have  to  commit  to  your 
charity.  I  would  ask  of  you  three  things.  First, 
to  enrol  yourselves  in  this  work.  It  is  an  association 
of  the  nature  of  a  Confraternity  of  Devotion.  Let 
each  enrol  himself  in  it,  and  thereby  become  person- 
ally a  partaker  in  its  works.6  Secondly,  if  you  are 
able  to  give,  give  according  to  your  means.  Lastly, 
if  you  are  not  able  to  give,  pray  that  the  hearts  of 
others  may  be  moved  to  contribute  of  what  they  pos- 
sess. Gather  by  your  industry,  from  them,  what  you 
cannot  give  yourselves.  There  is  no  reason  why  the 
roll  of  this  college  should  not  bear  the  name  of  every 
one  who  hears  me  now.  By  becoming  members  of 
this  association,  you  will  receive  the  special  benedic- 
tion which  is  attached  to  every  work  of  charity  for 
the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  Happy  are  you  if,  when 
our  divine  Lord  shall  gaze  upon  you  and  ask  of  each 
one :  '  Lovest  thou  Me  ?'  you  are  ablo  to  say  with 
truth:  'Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things;  Thou  knowest 
that  I  love  Thee.'  The  answer  will  then  be  in  your 
hearts  :  '  Feed  My  sheep/ 

6  To  become  a  member  of  St.  Joseph's  Society  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  Foreign  Missions,  nothing  more  is  required  than  to  be 
inscribed  on  the  books  of  the  Society,  to  pray  for  the  extension  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  to  give  an  annual  subscription  towards 
the  education  of  priests  in  St.  Joseph's  College,  or  in  other  ways 
to  co-operate  in  the  work  of  the  Society.  All  the  members  will 
participate  in  the  good  works  and  merits  of  the  Society. 


XIII. 

THE  NEGRO  MISSION: 

In  St.  Joseph's  College,  November  17,  1871* 


THE  NEGKO  MISSION. 


Tlie  Spirit  of  tlio  Lord  IB  npoa  me,  because  the  Lord  hath  anointed 
me :  He  hath  sent  me  to  preach  to  the  meek,  to  heal  the 
contrite  of  heart,  and  to  preach  a  release  to  the  captives,  and 
deliverance  to  them  that  are  shut  up.  ISAIAS  Ixi.  1. 

MOKE  than  a  thousand  years  ago,  a  lonely  priest  in 
the  West  of  England,  meditating  in  his  cloister  on 
the  spiritual  misery  and  spiritual  death  of  the  hea- 
then in  the  midst  of  Europe,  found  no  rest  day  or 
night,  until  he  had  formed  the  resolution,  and  carried 
that  resolution  into  effect,  of  leaving  his  home,  his 
brethren,  and  the  charities  of  life,  to  go  over  into 
Friesland,  and  there  to  preach  the  Gospel.  He  went 
forth,  and  failed,  and  turned  home  again.  But  the  fire 
of  zeal  that  was  in  him  could  not  be  extinguished.  A 
second  time  he  went  forth  into  the  same  land,  and  into 
Thuringia  and  Bavaria.  The  hearts  of  the  heathen 
opened  to  his  voice ;  and  Winfrid,  or  Boniface,  the 
Englishman,  became  the  apostle  and  martyr  of  Ger- 
many. 


384  THE  NEGKO  MISSION. 

From  that  day  to  this,  men  of  our  blood  and 
speech,  in  the  habit  of  St.  Francis,  St.  Dominic,  and 
St.  Ignatius,  and  more  recently  in  the  Congregations 
of  France,  have  gone  forth  into  all  the  world.  Men 
of  English  blood  and  English  speech,  men  of  Irish 
blood  and  of  Irish  faith,  have  left  our  shores  to  labour 
among  the  heathen.  But  England  has  never  until 
now  founded  a  Seminary  for  Missions  to  the  Heathen. 
While  England  was  Catholic,  England  had  no  colo- 
nies. It  was  shut  up  within  its  four  seas.  The  New 
World  was  not  known  to  exist ;  and  the  East  was  pre- 
occupied, or  beyond  our  reach.  When  England  ac- 
quired its  great  colonial  empire,  it  had  lost  the  Faith. 
By  a  strange  cross  and  contradiction  of  Divine  Pro- 
vidence, while  England  was  Catholic,  it  had  no  mis- 
sionary College ;  and  when  it  lost  the  Faith,  it  ac- 
quired sway  over  one-fifth  of  the  population  of  the 
world.  But  the  Church  in  England  lived  on  like  the 
live  coal  in  the  embers  hidden  among  the  ashes  :  and 
He  who  '  does  not  break  the  bruised  reed,  nor  quench 
the  smoking  flax,'1  in  His  own  good  time  kindled 
again  into  flame  the  faith  and  charity  of  England. 
Only  twenty  years  ago  its  perfection  was  restored  to 
tho  Church  in  England  in  the  unity  and  authority  of 

1  Isnias  xlii.  3. 


THE  NEGIiO  MISSION.  385 

its  Episcopate ;  and  within  fifteen  years  of  that  time 
the  Catholic  Church  founded  its  College  for  Foreign 
Missions.  I  think,  then,  we  have  a  singular  cause  of 
great  joy  to-day :  for,  so  far  as  I  know,  nothing  like 
it  is  written  in  the  annals  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
this  land.  We  meet  to-day  to  send  out  the  first 
missionaries  from  the  first  seminary  founded  by  the 
Church  in  England  to  evangelise  the  heathen  world. 
In  these  last  years,-  we  have  met  in  this  spot  six 
times ;  first,  at  a  house  hard  by,  where  this  seminary 
was  founded.  That  day,  two  or  three  met  together 
in  faith  of  the  presence  of  our  Divine  Master.  Again 
we  met  in  the  same  place,  when  the  rude  chapel,  a 
fitting  sanctuary  for  missionaries — built  with  rough 
wood — was  opened.  We  met  a  third  time  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  this  house.  For  the  fourth  time  we 
met,  when  this  house  was  fit  to  receive  its  students, 
to  instal  them  in  their  home.  Once  more  we  met  to 
lay  the  first  stone  of  the  church  by  the>  side  of  this 
college.  And  lastly,  we  meet  to-day  to  send  forth 
from  this  seminary  its  first  band  of  missionary  fathers. 
God  has  blessed  in  a  notable  manner  the  small  be- 
ginning of  this  work.  He  has  so  planted  it  in  the 
ground,  that  no  hand  of  man  can  root  it  out.  That 
it  will  grow  in  strength  and  stature;  that  it  will 
spread  itself  abroad  far  and  wide,  who  can  doubt  ? 

cc 


386  THE  NEGRO  MISSION. 

The  mission  to  which  these  devoted  men  will  go  is 
a  mission  of  an  exceptional  kind.  This  Seminary  was 
founded,  as  you  know,  not  for  the  ordinary  work  of 
priests  in  the  colonies  of  the  British  Empire — not 
for  labour  within  the  boundaries  of  any  Christian 
civilisation — but  for  missions  to  the  heathen  strictly 
so  called.  We  send  forth  to-day  these  good  fathers 
for  the  work  of  converting  the  negro  population  in 
the  South  of  the  American  Union.  At  first  sight 
you  will  perhaps  say:  This  is  not,  indeed,  within 
the  colonies  of  the  British  Empire,  but  it  is  within 
the  frontiers  of  Christian  civilisation.  I  answer:  The 
population  to  whom  they  go  is  altogether  exceptional. 
In  the  heart  of  a  Christian  people  there  are  five  mil- 
lions of  the  negro  race,  who  the  other  day  were  slaves. 
They  may  be  truly  said  to  be  without  pastors  and 
without  spiritual  care.  They  are  altogether  an  excep- 
tional, I  might  say  an  isolated,  race  in  the  midst  of 
a  Christian  people.  Therefore,  the  Mission  of  to-day 
fulfils  to  the  very  letter  the  terms  for  which  this  Semi- 
nary was  founded.  It  is  in  very  truth  a  Mission  to  the 
heathen,  to  'the  most  outcast  heathen ;  a  Mission  to 
a  population  brought,  it  is  true,  within  the  light  of 
civilisation,  yet  excluded  from  its  inheritance.  It 
dwells  apart,  in  the  cold  air  of  neglect  and  contempt. 
To  such  a  people,  sitting  alone  in  darkness,  these 


THE  NEGRO  MISSION.  387 

good  missionaries  are  sent.  They  go,  not  to  labour 
for  the  white  population  of  America ;  not  to  assist  the 
pastors  of  America  in  labouring  for  the  blacks  within 
their  parishes  or  districts.  They  go,  bound  by  the 
vow  which  they  will  make  in  your  hearing,  to  labour 
for  the  black  population  alone.  I  may  describe  their 
mission  by  the  words  of  the  prophet:  '  The  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  is  upon  'them.'  If  'no  one  can  say  the 
Lord  Jesus,  except  by  the  Holy  Ghost,'  then  assur- 
edly no  one  could  conceive  the  purpose  and  the  will 
to  choose  this  mission  to  the  negro  race,  but  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.  If  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  had  not  been 
upon  them,  they  would  not  be  here  to-day.  That  they 
are  sent  by  the  Lord  we  know;  for  the  Vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ,  with  a  special  benediction,  has  sent  them. 
They  go  '  to  preach  to  the  meek,'  to  a  population  the 
most  abased,  outcast,  down-trodden,  of  all  the  people 
of  the  earth.  The  Indians  of  the  East  and  West, 
the  races  of  Asia  and  America,  are  noble  and  dig- 
nified, compared  with  the  poor  negro.  The  races  of 
Africa  have  been  despised  and  trampled  under  foot  by 
all  nations  even  to  this  day.  It  is  this  poor,  off-cast, 
persecuted  race  that  these  good  missionaries  have 
chosen  for  their  special  care.  Truly  they  have  been 
sent  '  to  preach  to  the  meek,  to  heal  the  contrite  of 
heart,  and  to  preach  a  release  to  the  captives.'  It 


888  THE  NEGRO  MISSION. 

was  but  the  other  day  that  they  had  the  chains  of 
captivity  upon  them.  The  galling  scars  of  bondage 
are  on  the  linabs  of  that  race ;  and  even  after  their 
liberation  that  brand  will  be  transmitted  to  their 
children's  children.  Finally,  these  good  fathers  go 
'  to  preach  deliverance  to  them  that  are  shut  up' 
— shut  up  by  the  social  exclusiveness  of  human  pride, 
by  a  barrier  which  is  more  impenetrable  than  walls 
of  stone :  to  abolish  their  spiritual  bondage,  and  to 
admit  them  into  the  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 
Surely  this  is  an  event  which  appeals  to  all  our 
hearts. 

First,  because  England  is  guilty  towards  the 
poor  negro  race  of  Africa.  England,  before  God, 
is  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  negro.  England  has 
drawn  more  tears,  and  sighs,  and  groans,  from  the 
heart  of  .the  negro  than  any  other  people.  Lest  I 
should  seem  to  exaggerate,  and  lest  any  should  say 
that  there  are  others,  like  Spain  and  Portugal,  who 
trafficked  in  human  flesh ;  I  answer,  that  for  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  we  inflicted  the  slave-trade  upon  Africa, 
and  that  it  was  the  English  slavery  of  the  West  Indies 
that  created  this  traffic  in  Northern  America. 

I  know  nothing  more  blood  -  stained  nor  more 
horrible  in  the  history  of  man  than  the  recitals 
of  this  murderous  trade  :  the  hovering  of  the  slave 


THE  NEGEO  MISSION.  389 

ship  on  the  coasts  of  Africa,  the  sweeping  away  of  old 
and  young,  man,  woman,  child ;  the  chaining  them 
between  decks  so  low  that  they  could  not  stand  and 
could  hardly  sit,  in  crowds  so  thick  that  they  could 
hardly  lie ;  without  food  or  water  to  slake  thirst  under 
the  burning  heat  of  the  equator,  and  in  the  suffocat- 
ing pestilential  air  of  a  slave-ship,  where  sleep  was 
impossible,  and  death  the  only  kindly  voice ;  festering, 
dying,  and  breeding  pestilence  in  the  stifling  hold 
of  the  slaver.  And  when  that  inhuman  traffic  was 
pursued  by  justice  on  the  high  seas,  these  miser- 
able victims  of  man's  cruelty  and  avarice  were  cast 
into  the  deep  to  escape  detection,  like  contraband 
goods,  along  the  track  of  flight.  Horrible  as  is  all  this 
in  its  physical  torments,  there  was  perhaps  some- 
thing more  degrading,  more  revolting  still  —  the 
slave-market.  Men  who  have  seen  it  have  described 
it.  Men  and  women  exposed  like  beasts,  to  be 
handled,  tried,  tested,  and  examined,  as  cattle  for 
shambles :  and  not  only  this,  but  parents  and  chil- 
dren sold  and  rent  asunder,  husband  and  wife  se- 
parated from  each  other,  every  bond  that  binds  the 
human  heart  in  fidelity  and  love — and  such  hearts 
were  more  human,  more  loving,  and  more  pure  than 
the  heart  of  the  trader  in  flesh  and  blood — coarsely 
and  cruelly  violated.  Out  of  the  Cities  of  the  Plain, 


390  THE  NEGRO  MISSION. 

on  which  the  fire  of  God  came  down,  there  never  was 
a  sia  more  burning  or  more  loudly  crying  to  God  for 
vengeance  than  slavery  and  the  slave-trade.  And 
yet  we  were  guilty  of  it.  We  were  among  the  chief 
authors  of  it ;  and  though  not  perhaps  the  first  to 
begin  it,  yet  for  the  magnitude  of  our  share  it  stands 
at  the  head  of  our  misdeeds.  It  was  England  that 
bequeathed  the  sin  of  slavery  to  its  American  plan- 
tations. We  gave  this  plague-spot  to  the  American 
Union.  And  there  is  in  the  Southern  States  at  this 
moment  a  negro  population,  who  only  the  other  day 
were  emancipated,  equal  to  the  population  of  Ireland. 
But  as  yet  they  are  not  civilised.  They  are  not  yet 
Christian. 

Such  is  the  debt  that  England  has  to  pay  in 
charity  to  the  negroes  of  Africa.  It  is  true  indeed 
that  we  have  abolished  the  slave-trade;  it  is  true 
that  we  have  ceased  to  hold  slaves:  but  that  ne- 
gro population  exists  in  our  colonies  and  in  North 
America  through  our  sin.  If  there  ever  was  a  country 
which  answers  to  the  prophetic  doom,  it  is  England ; 
for  it  is  full  of  gold  and  silver,  and  thyine  wood,  and 
precious  stones,  and  wheat,  and  oil,  and  wine,  and 
cattle,  and  sheep,  and  slaves,  and  souls  of  men. 

We  are  bound  by  every  motive  of  charity  to  make 
a  reparation  for  the  cruel  wrongs  inflicted  by  our  fore- 


THE  NEGRO  MISSION.  891 

fathers  on  this  suffering  race.  It  is  indeed  true  that 
England  made  some  atonement  by  abolishing  the 
slave-trade,  and  by  paying  the  blood-money  when  it 
abolished  slavery.  America  has  paid  a  costlier  blood- 
money  and  in  a  coin  more  precious  than  England. 
We  gave  some  twenty  millions  of  gold  and  silver : 
America  has  paid  the  lives  of  half  a  million  of  men. 
The  chief  cause  of  their  fraternal  war  was  slavery. 
But  we  owe  still  a  reparation  of  Christian  charity, 
not  only  to  the  negroes  as  they  now  exist  in  Ame- 
rica, but  also  to  the  country  from  which  they  were 
carried  away.  England,  it  is  true,  has  been  keeping 
.watch  by  its  ships  on  the  shores  of  Africa  to  prevent 
the  slave-trade  of  other  countries.  But  this  is  not 
enough.  England  owes  a  reparation  of  another  kind. 
The  slave-trade  has  made  the  name  of  England,  and 
the  name  of  Christian,  hateful  to  Africa.  We  owe  to 
Africa  a  reparation  of  Christian  charity  and  Christian 
zeal.  We  must  ask  its  Christian  forgiveness.  It  is 
our  duty  to  obtain  from  Africa  our  absolution  from 
the  wrongs  which  we  have  committed;  and  I  trust 
that  the  work  to  which  these  reverend  fathers  go  will 
not  only  be  to  labour  among  the  negroes  of  the  South, 
but  to  found  in  America  a  Missionary  College  like  to 
this,  in  which  natives  of  Africa  may  be  trained  to 
carry  the  faith  into  their  own  land. 


392  THE  NEGRO  MISSION. 

"We  are  now  going  to  send  into  the  United  States 
a  vanguard.  We  are  taking  up  an  advanced  and  ad- 
vantageous position  for  the  purpose  of  acting  not  so 
much  upon  America  as  upon  Africa.  These  may 
seem  bold  thoughts,  and  the  hopes  of  an  enthusiast  ; 
and  yet  when  Winfrid  went  forth  from  his  cloister  in 
Nutsell,  how  little  did  he  dream  of  the  empire  of  faith 
which  should  spring  up  from  his  word  ? 

Two  centuries  ago,  the  'Ark'  and  the  'Dove' 
lay  in  the  Thames,  with  some  two  hundred  English 
Catholics  on  hoard,  bound  for  our  American  planta- 
tions. They  were  driven  from  England  by  the  cruelty 
of  the  times  to  find  peace  and  liberty  of  conscience  in 
a  land  where  Christianity  was  unknown.  How  little 
did  they  think,  when  the  'Ark'  and  '  Dove'  were  tossing 
in  the  Atlantic,  that  they  were  the  seed  of  a  mighty 
empire  and  of  a  wide -spread  Church.  And  who 
knows  what  the  little  beginning  of  to-day  may  be  ? 
who  can  tell  that  there  may  not  spring  up  an  Apostol- 
ate  for  Africa,  a  Hierarchy  of  Bishops  and  Priests,  to 
turn  back  the  light  of  salvation,  which  from  the  east 
came  westward,  upon  the  darkened  west  again  ?  Surely 
there  is  a  day  of  grace  for  Africa ;  a  land  on  which 
a  doom  of  Heaven  seems  to  weigh.  It  is  shut  out 
from  all  the  world.  Its  impassable  deserts,  its  pesti- 
lential shores,  its  untraceable  rivers,  its  regions  with- 


THE  NEGRO  MISSION.  393 

out  a  track  for  human  foot,  its  teeming  races  and 
unknown  multitudes — all  these  make  Africa  to  be  a 
land  of  mystery  and  awe.  Surely  the  day  will  come 
when  upon  those  who  sit  in  darkness  a  light  of  sal- 
vation will  arise. 

We  have  therefore  to  thank  God  who  has  put  it 
into  the  hearts  of  these  missionary  fathers  to  labour 
for  the  negro  and  for  Africa.  We  have  to  thank 
them  also  in  the  name  of  England  and  in  our  own. 
They  are  going  to  accomplish  a  part  of  that  work 
of  reparation  and  expiation  for  which  we  are  all  re- 
sponsible. We  pray  for  them  to-day,  that  God  may 
accept  their  mission  to  the  negroes  of  America,  and 
to  the  people  of  Africa  hereafter.  We  pray  that  God 
will  accept  them,  and  bless  them  for  their  charity 
and  for  this  perfect  oblation  of  themselves.  We  pray 
that  God  will  accept  it  also  in  our  behalf. 

And  next,  we  have  to  take  courage  from  their  ex- 
ample. I  have  always  felt,  and  I  declare  again  to-day, 
that  this  seminary  is  a  boon  bestowed  on  the  priest- 
hood of  this  diocese  and  of  England.  It  is  an 
example  for  us  all.  It  calls  us  to  detachment  from 
home  and  friends  and  kindred  and  country  —  from 
self  and  all  that  is  soft,  and  sweet,  and  subtil,  and 
attractive  to  the  human  heart.  It  warns  us  also 
to  be  detached  from  all  things ;  and  that  without 


894  THE  NEGEO  MISSION. 

this  a  priest  is  little  worth.  They  also  warn  us 
of  the  love  we  ought  to  bear  to  souls — not  of  souls 
enjoying  the  light,  and  grace,  and  refinements  of 
Christianity,  but  of  souls  brought  down  to  the  lowest 
depths  of  human  degradation,  to  the  outcasts  among 
men,  to  whom  men  and  even  priests  do  not  go  by 
natural  preference.  They  have  chosen  the  better 
part.  They  have  chosen  to  labour,  not  for  a  popula- 
tion full  of  human  attraction,  but  repulsive  to  human 
fastidiousness ;  repulsive,  I  mean,  to  the  natural  man, 
but  attractive  indeed  to  those  who  have  the  heart  of 
the  Good  Shepherd,  beautiful  to  eyes  illuminated  by 
faith,  because  they  are  souls  for  whose  sake  our  Divine 
Master  took  upon  Him  our  humanity,  and  from  whom 
other  men  coldly  turn  away.  I  say,  then,  they  set  us 
an  example  of  the  love  of  souls :  and  God  knows  we 
have  amongst  us  heathen  souls  debased  and  brutal- 
ised  with  all  the  vices  of  a  corrupt  civilisation  and  of 
an  apostate  Christianity.  I  hope  all  of  us,  young  and 
old,  will  go  back  from  this  house  to-day  better  priests, 
more  heedless  of  the  world  and  of  self,  more  kindled 
with  love  to  the  perishing,  more  wholly  given  to  the 
service  of  our  Divine  Master.  We  have,  indeed,  abund- 
ant need  of  missions  in  England,  where  one  half  of 
the  population  are  not  Christian  in  life,  whatever  they 
be  in  name.  There  are  tens  of  thousands  in  Glasgow, 


THE  NEGEO  MISSION.  895 

in  Liverpool,  and  in  London,  living  without  Christ 
and  without  God  in  the  world.  For  such  souls  no 
priest  will  be  able  to  do  his  Master's  work  who  has 
not  in  him  the  heart  of  a  missionary — a  heart  de- 
tached from  the  world,  and  inflamed  with  a  thirst  for 
their  salvation.  This  is  our  second  motive  for  thank- 
ing them  while  we  bid  them  farewell,  to-day. 

And  now,  dear  brethren  and  fathers,  my  last  words 
are  to  you.  You  are  about  to  take  your  missionary 
vow,  and  that  vow  is  this  :  that  you  give  yourselves 
for  ever  to  be  the  fathers  and  servants  of  the  negroes. 
You  give  yourselves  for  ever,  not  to  labour  for  the 
white  people,  but  for  those  who  are  '  black,  yet  beau- 
tiful' in  the  sight  of  Him  who  loves  them  and  died 
for  them.  You  go  to  labour  for  them,  and  for  them 
only,  in  the  spirit  of  Peter  Claver,  who  under  his  vow 
wrote  these  words :  '  Peter,  for  ever  the  slave  of  the 
negro.'  Vos  estis  seni  servorum  Dei.  It  is  a  great 
title  that  you  take  to-day.  To  you,  as  to  His  Apostles, 
our  divine  Lord  says :  Neminem  per  viam  salutaveri- 
tis  ;  salute  no  man  by  the  way :  do  not  linger  on  your 
errand.  You  are  sent  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house 
of  Israel ;  for  they  are  of  the  Israel  of  God,  because 
God  has  purchased  them  to  be  His  people.  Et  in 
guamcumque  civitatem  intmvcritis,  ct  suscipicnt  vos, 
manducate  qua;  apponuntur  vobis ;  into  whatever  city 


896  THE  NEGKO  MISSION. 

you  enter,  and  they  receive  you,  eat  what  is  set  be- 
fore you,  and  there  abide  until  you  go  thence,  et  ibi 
manete  donee  exeatis;  and  go  not  from  house  to  house, 
nolite  transire  de  domo  in  domum.  You  are  not  going, 
dear  brethren,  to  enter  into  the  houses  of  the  white 
man,  but  to  dwell  in  the  huts  of  the  black.  They  are 
to  be  your  hosts,  and  your  spiritual  children,  unto 
death.  Nemo  mittens  manum  suam  ad  aratrum,  et 
respiciens  retro,  aptus  est  regno  Dei.  No  one  having 
once  put  his  hand  to  the  plough,  if  he  look  back,  is 
fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  Go,  then,  to  this  work ; 
consecrate  yourselves  to  it,  body,  soul,  and  spirit;  and, 
as  Jesus  offered  Himself  for  you,  so  offer  yourselves 
for  Him.  His  oblation  was  perfect.  Oblatus  est,  quia 
ipse  voluit.  His  will  was  offered  up  once  for  all.  So 
offer  yours  for  ever.  You  go  to  give  yourselves — to 
save  those  poor  souls  from  whom  men  turn  away,  but 
for  whom  Jesus  shed  His  Blood.  You  will  firmly  hold 
to  this  high  mission,  and  will  turn  aside  from  the 
solicitations  which,  perhaps,  may  be  addressed  to  you 
in  the  name  of  charity,  to  labour  for  others  who  need 
you  less.  Go,  then;  for  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
you  :  '  the  Lord  has  sent  you  to  preach  to  the  meek, 
to  heal  the  contrite  of  heart,  to  preach  release  to 
the  captive,  and  eternal  deliverance  to  those  that  are 
shut  up.'  And  may  God,  in  His  infinite  mercy,  pour 


THE  NEGRO  MISSION.  897 

upon  you  His  sevenfold  spirit  of  charity  and  zeal. 
May  He  multiply  your  labours  a  hundredfold.  May 
He  give  you  gladness  in  your  life,  and  peace  in  the 
hour  of  death,  and  a  crown  of  glory  radiant  with 
souls  bright  as  the  stars  to  all  eternity. 


XIV. 
ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM : 

A.t  St.  Edmund's  College,  on  the  Festival  of  St.  Edmund  of 
Canterbury,  1871. 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM. 


Of  His  own  will  hath  He  hegotten  us  by  the  word  of  truth,  that  we 
might  be  some  beginning  of  His  creature.    ST.  JAMES  i.  18. 

THE  will  of  God  is  the  love  of  God.  Pondus  vo- 
luntatis  amor ;  that  which  moves  the  Almighty  will 
is  the  uncreated  charity.  The  perfect  freedom  of 
the  Creator  and  Redeemer  of  the  world  moved  in 
harmony  with  His  perfect  love.  This  is  the  eternal 
Fountain  of  all  things :  '  Every  best  gift,  and  every 
perfect  gift,  is  from  above,  coming  down  from  the 
Father  of  lights,  with  Whom  there  is  no  change,  nor 
shadow  of  alteration.'1  God's  own  will  is  the  origin 
of  all  the  divine  operations ;  His  word  of  truth  is  the 
instrument  of  His  power.  'In  the  beginning  was 
the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the 
Word  was  God.  .  .  .  All  things  were  made  by  Him, 
and  without  Him  was  made  nothing  that  was  made.'2 
The  Word  of  God  is  the  eternal  Son,  '  by  Whom 
also  He  made  the  worlds.'  'And  the  Word  was 
•  St.  James  i.  17.  *  St.  Johni.  1,  3. 

DD 


402  ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOII. 

made  flesh.'  The  Incarnate  Son  is  the*  author  of 
our  regeneration  by  the  Truth,  which  He  is,  which 
also  \ve  believe.  That  is  to  say,  the  means  of  our 
regeneration  is  the  truth  revealed  to  faith  and  the 
grace  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  for  '  grace  and  truth 
came  by  Jesus  Christ.'  St.  James  also  declares  the 
end  of  our  regeneration  :  that  we  may  be  initium  ali- 
quod  creatures  suce,  '  some  beginning  of  His  crea- 
tures;' or,  as  the  word  in  the  original  (<brapx4v) 
signifies,  the  first-fruits  of  His  creatures.  Christians 
are  therefore  the  subjects  of  a  special  predestination. 
They  are  chosen  and  regenerated  to  be  a  manifesta- 
tion of  truth  and  grace,  and  to  be  the  first-fruits  ga- 
thered out  of  the  creation  of  God. 

Under  the  old  law,  God  gave  this  commandment 
to  His  chosen  people :  '  When  thou  art  come  into 
the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  will  give  thee  to 
possess,  and  hast  conquered  it,  and  dwellest  in  it, 
thou  shalt  take  the  first  of  all  thy  fruits,  and  put 
them  in  a  basket,  and-  shalt  go  to  the  place  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  shall  choose,  that  His  name  may 
be  invocated  there.  And  thou  shalt  go  to  the  priest 
that  shall  be  in  those  days,  and  say  to  him  :  I  profess 
this  day  before  the  Lord  thy  God,  that  I  am  come 
into  the  land  for  which  He  swore  to  our  fathers  that 
He  would  give  it  us.  And  the  priest,  taking  the 


BT.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM.  403 

basket  at  thy  hand,  shall  set  it  before  the  altar  of 
the  Lord  thy  God.  And  thou  shalt  speak  thus  in 
the  sight  of  the  Lord  thy  God :  The  Syrian  pursued 
my  father,  who  went  down  into  Egypt,  and  sojourned 
there  in  a  very  small  number,  and  grew  into  a  na- 
tion great  and  strong,  and  of  an  infinite  multitude. 
And  the  Egyptians  afflicted  us,  and  persecuted  us, 
laying  on  us  most  grievous  burdens.  And  we  cried 
to  the  Lord  God  of  our  fathers,  Who  heard  us,  and 
looked  down  upon  oul-  afflictions,  and  labour,  and 
distress,  and  brought  us  out  of  Egypt  with  a  strong 
hand  and  a  stretched-out  arm,  with  great  terror,  with 
signs  and  wonders ;  and  brought  us  into  this  place, 
and  gave  us  this  land,  flowing  with  milk  .and  honey. 
And  therefore  now  I  offer  the  first-fruits  of  the  land, 
which  the  Lord  hath  given  me.  And  thou  shalt  leave 
them  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  adoring  the 
Lord  thy  God.'3 

The  prophet  Jeremias  says  :  '  Israel  is  holy  to  the 
Lord,  the  first-fruits  of  His  increase.'4  The  first- 
fruits,  that  is,  the  earliest  and  the  best  of  the  vine- 
yards, and  olive  -  yards,  and  cornfields  of  the  pro- 
mised land,  were  symbolical  of  Israel  the  chosen 
people,  the  elect  nation  from  among  the  nations  of  the 
world.  And  Israel  itself  was  a  type  and  a  prophecy 

*  Deut.  xxvi.  1-10.  «  Jerem.  ii.  3. 


404  ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM. 

of  a  higher  election  yet  to  be  revealed,  and  of  a  law 
of  first-fruits  in  the  new  creation  of  God.  Both  in 
the  natural  and  the  supernatural  order,  the  best  of 
all  things  belong  to  the  Maker  and  Head  of  all ;  this 
law  runs  through  all  His  works. 

1.  We  find  it  in  the  beginning  of  all  things.  The 
works  of  God  ascended  step  by  step  to  their  perfection. 
The  six  days,  in  their  succession,  unfolded  each  one 
some  new  glory  of  the  Divine  wisdom.  The  light  and 
the  firmament,  the  waters  and-  the  dry  land,  the  trees 
and  the  herbage,  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  the  fowls 
of  tlie  air,  the  beasts  of  the  field,  then  man,  the 
apta  materia,  from  the  dust  of  the  earth,  on  which 
God  set  the  light  of  His  own  image.  Signatum  est 
super  nos  lumen  vultus  tui.  The  likeness  of  God, 
in  reason  and  in  will,  was  impressed  on  the  soul  of 
man.  He  was  made  like  to  God,  that  he  might  be 
the  son  and  the  friend  of  God,  and  that  he  might 
hold  the  primacy  over  all  the  creatures.  He  was 
made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  because  clothed 
in  flesh ;  he  was  crowned  with  glory  and  honour,  be- 
cause he  was  resplendent  with  the  image  of  God; 
he  was  set  over  the  works  of  his  Maker's  hands,  as 
the  vicar  or  vice-king,  the  head  and  primate  over 
all  the  works  of  the  six  days,  to  know  and  to  name 
them,  to  rule  and  to  use  them,  according  to  the  laws 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM.  405 

of  their  Creator  and  their  Lord.  The  first  Adam  was, 
therefore,  the  crown  and  perfection  of  all  the  works 
of  God — the  first-fruits  of  the  creatures. 

2.  But  in  this,  the  first  Adam  was  a  type  of  the 
Second,  in  whose  image  he  was  made.  What  the 
first  man  was  among  the  lower  creatures,  the  Second 
is  among  men  —  the  first-fruits  of  the  first-fruits, 
the  beginning  of  a  new  and  higher  creation.  Jesus  is 
the  crown  of  all  perfection  :  '  perfect  God,  and  perfect 
man ;  of  reasonable  soul  and  human  flesh  subsist- 
ing ;  equal  to  the  Father  according  to  His  God- 
head, and  less  than  the  Father  according  to  His  man- 
hood.' We  see  Jesus,  Who  was  made  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels  by  the  assumption  of  our  manhood, 
crowned  with  glory  and  honour,  and  set  over  the 
works  of  His  hands ;  for  to  Him  all  power  in  heaven 
and  earth  is  given.  In  Him  our  manhood  is  deified. 
Man  is  still  the  first-fruits,  but  the  first-fruits  are 
divine.  The  image  of  God  was  manifested,  but  in 
unity  of  person  with  the  divine  Original.  The  glory 
of  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God  was  seen  among 
men,  and  as  the  Son  of  Man.  As  Adam  was  the 
first-fruits  of  mankind  unto  death,  so  Jesus  is  the 
first-fruits  unto  eternal  life.  He  is  the  '  Root'  and 
the  '  Beginning  of  the  creation  of  God ;'  that  is,  the 
productive  principle  from  which  springs  the  regener- 


406  ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM, 

ation  of  mankind  and  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  Therefore  St.  Paul  calls  Him  '  the  image  of 
the  invisible  God,  the  firstborn  of  .every  creature ;' 
that  is,  before  all  creatures  were  made,  from  all  eter- 
nity, the  uncreated ;  '  for  in  Him  were  all  things 
created  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  visible  and  invisible, 
whether  thrones,  or  dominations,  or  principalities,  or 
powers  :  all  things  were  created  by  Him  and  in  Him. 
And  He  is  before  all,  and  by  Him  all  things  consist. 
And  He  is-  the  Head  of  the  body,  the  Church,  Who 
is  the  beginning,  the  firstborn  from  the  dead ;'  because 
He  could  not  be  holden  of  death,  '  that  in  all  things 
He  may  hold  the  primacy.'5  Therefore  He  is  also 
'  the  first-fruits  of  those  that  sleep'6 — the  Head  and 
Lord  of  the  living  and  of  the  dead. 

3.  And  what  Jesus  is  among  men,  His  Church  is 
in  the  world — the  first-fruits  of  the  nations.  It  is 
the  regeneration,  present  and  working,  in  this  dying 
world.  The  promise  :  '  You  who  have  followed  Me, 
in  the  regeneration,  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  sit 
on  the  seat  of  His  majesty,  you  also  shall  sit  on 
twelve  seats,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel'7 — is 
already  fulfilled  in  the  mystical  Body.  The  command, 
'  Go  and  baptise  all  nations,'  implanted  a  new  life  in 

»  Col.  i.  15-18.  «  1  Cor.  XT.  20. 

•>  St.  Matthew  zis.  28. 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM.  407 

the  world.  Wheresoever  the  waters  which  issue  from 
the  sanctuary  came,  all  things  lived.  The  power  of 
the  resurrection  entered  into  the  dry  bones,  and 
they  knit  together,  and  were  clothed  with  a  new 
humanity,  and  stood  upon  their  feet.  The  spiritual 
resurrection  was  accomplished  in  them,  and  the  ear- 
nest of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  given  to 
them.  Baptism  is  the  first-fruits  of  the  resurrection, 
and  the  resurrection  is  the  harvest-home  of  baptism. 
Therefore  it  is  true  of  the  mystical  Body,  and  of 
every  living  member  :  '  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that 
hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection :  in  these  the  se- 
cond death  hath  no  power.'8  And  that,  because  the 
first-fruits  from  the  dead  is  the  life-giving  Head  of 
the  Church :  and  because  He  has  promised  to  it  in 
Peter :  '  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church,  and 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.'  In  the 
midst  of  this  death-stricken  world,  the  Church  is  full 
of  life.  As  the  fleece  of  Gedeon  was  drenched  with 
the  dew  of  heaven,  while  all  the  ground  about  it  was 
dry,  so  the  Church  is  fresh  with  the  waters  of  life  in 
the  midst  of  the  valley  of  dry  bones.  Ever  fresh, 
ever  fruitful,  its  leaf  shall  not  wither ;  its  four  notes 
cannot  be  hid ;  its  supernatural  endowments  cannot 
be  stayed  or  bound.  Verbum  Dei  non  est  alligatum. 
•  Apoc.  XT.  6. 


408  ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIELOOM. 

The  word  of  God,  in  all  the  liberty  of  its  divine  power, 
bears  witness,  in  the  midst  of  the  false  philosophies, 
corrupt  religions,  heretical  perversions,  to  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus.  In  the  midst  of  the  rankness  of 
this  world ;  of  the  races  and  people  who  have  never 
yet  known  the  true  God ;  of  the  nations  and  king- 
doms who  are  apostate  from  His  service  and  His 
sovereignty,  the  one  holy  Catholic  Church  stands  in 
its  unity  of  immutable  truth,  of  supernatural  sanc- 
tity, of  inflexible  authority,  as  a  creation  not  of  man ; 
independent  of  man ;  in  contact  with  the  world,  but 
not  of  the  world  ;  imperishable  and  indestructible ; 
always  suffering,  never  overcome ;  the  first-fruits  of 
the  truth,  grace,  and  power  of  God.  Out  of  the  visi- 
ble unity  of  the  Church  are  continually  passing  the 
multitudes  of  the  regenerate,  who  fall  asleep  with  the 
sign  of  faith.  They  go  onward  to  the  Church  be- 
yond the  grave,  to  wait  for  tLe  vision  of  God,  or  to 
speed  into  His  presence.  These  all,  whether  mili- 
tant, or  suffering,  or  triumphant,  both  in  grace  and 
in  glory,  are  first-fruits  to  God  and  to  the  Lamb. 

4.  In  this  we  further  see  the  dignity  of  Chris- 
tians. They  are  called  to  be  the  salt  of  the  earth, 
the  light  of  the  world,  the  children  of  light,  sons 
of  God,  first-fruits  of  mankind  and  of  grace.  St. 
Paul  says :  '  Every  creature  groaneth  and  travaileth 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIELOOM.  409 

in  pain,  even  till  now ;  and  not  only  it,  but  ourselves 
also,  who  have  the  first-fruits  of  the  Spirit:'9  that 
is  to  say,  we  have  received  the  first-fruits  of  His 
power,  the  chief  and  the  choicest  gifts,  the  special 
and  peculiar  dispensation  of  grace  whereby  the  Holy 
Ghost  dwells  in  us  as  His  temple,  and  by  the  law 
of  the  Spirit  of  life  has  made  us  free  from  the  law 
of  sin  and  death.  Christians  are  called  to  be  the 
ripe  and  chosen  fruits  of  mankind ;  and  that,  not 
only  in  the  natural  order,  and  by  the  faculties  and 
powers  of  nature,  but  also  in  the  supernatural  order 
of  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  of  sanctifying  grace,  of 
the  seven  gifts,  of  the  twelve  fruits  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  of  the  eight  beatitudes,  which  are  the  rays  that 
shine  from  the  Face  of  Jesus  Christ.  Christians  are 
called  to  reflect  His  light  and  His  likeness  upon 
the  world ;  to  be  witnesses  to  Him  by  being  like 
Him.  What  the  world  by  its  wisdom  could  not 
do;  what  the  civilisation,  and  culture,  and  refine- 
ment, and  philosophy  of  the  heathen  world  could  not 
accomplish,  the  word  of  truth  and  the  new  birth  of 
the  Spirit  has  done.  The  purity,  chastity,  humility, 
generosity,  sincerity,  meekness,  mercifulness,  long- 
suffering,  charity,  justice,  equity  of  the  mind  which 
was  in  Jesus  has  elevated  not  individuals  only,  but 

"  Romans  vlii.  22,  28. 


410  ST.  EDMUND'S 

families,  races,  and  nations  —  the  high  and  low, 
learned  and  simple,  the  old  and  the  young — to  a 
dignity  and  a  perfection  which  the  world  without 
Christ  never  could  attain,  nor  so  much  as  conceive. 
'Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  modest,  what- 
soever just,  whatsoever  holy,  whatsoever  lovely  :'10 
these  are  the  growth  of  Christianity,  and  Christians 
are  the  first-fruits  of  this  new  creation. 

See,  then,  your  dignity  as  Catholics,  that  is,  as 
Christians  perfect  and  complete  in  faith.  It  con- 
sists in  three  things.  First,  in  your  election.  You 
were  predestinated  of  His  own  will  to  he  horn  again 
hy  the  word  of  truth  :  '  For  whom  He  foreknew,  He 
also  predestinated  to  be  made  conformable  to  the 
image  of  His  Son,  that  He  might  be  the  first-born 
among  many  brethren  ;  and  whom  He  predestinated, 
them  He  also  called ;  and  whom  He  called,  them  He 
also  justified ;  and  whom  He  justified,  them  He 
also  glorified'11 — that  is,  upon  you  He  has  put  the 
glory  of  the  adoption ;  the  glory  to  be  the  sons  of 
God  ;  and  if  sons,  then  heirs— heirs  of  God  and  joint 
heirs  with  Christ.  This  election  took  effect  upon  you 
when  you  knew  it  not.  You  were  passive  under  it. 
As  our  divine  Lord  has  said  :  '  You  have  not  chosen 
Me ;  but  I  have  chosen  you,  and  have  appointed  you, 
10  Phil.  iv.-8.  "  Romans  viii.  29,  30. 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM.  411 

that  you  should  go  and  should  bring  forth  fruit.'  And 
again  :  '  If  you  had  been  of  the  world,  the  world  would 
love  its  own ;  but  because  you  are  not  of  the  world, 
but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world,  therefore 
the  world  hateth  you.'12 

This  election  to  regeneration,  to  faith,  to  son- 
ship,  to  grace,  has  lifted  you  above  all  the  races  and 
nations  of  the  world.  "We  can  find  for  it  no  motive 
and  no  reason,  except  the  will — that  is,  the  love — of 
God.  Why  He  should  have  chosen  us  rather  than 
others,  who  can  say  ?  In  this  we  can  but  adore  the 
depth  of  the  riches  and  of  the  wisdom  of  God. 

Next,  you  have  received  the  full  and  perfect  il- 
lumination of  faith.  The  whole  revelation  of  God 
is  yours ;  not  a  fragment,  nor  a  broken  tradition  of 
truth,  but  the  whole  undiminished  light  in  its  full 
outline  and  radiance,  as  it  was  revealed.  You  did 
not  discover  this  light;  it  shone  upon  you.  You 
have  not  constructed  your  faith  piece  by  piece,  and 
truth  by  truth;  you  inherited  it  as  the  heirloom 
of  the  children  of  God. 

And,  lastly,  you  have  been  shaped  and  formed 
from  your  baptism,  without  knowing  it,  to  the  like- 
ness of  Jesus  Christ.  As  the  potter  lays  the  clay 
upon  the  wheel,  and  as  it  turns,  shapes  it  with  his 

«  St.  John  xv.  16,  10. 


412  ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOMV 

hand,  so  from  yonr  earliest  consciousness  the  grace 
of  baptism,  which  you  unconsciously  received,  has 
been  elicited  and  shaped  by  the  guidance  of  the 
Church,  the  counsels  and  charity  of  pastors,  the  Sacra- 
ments of  grace,  the  Providence  which  has  ordered 
all  your  life.  These  three  things  are  gifts  of  God 
preventing  the  conscious  action  of  your  intelligence 
and  will — ripening  you  in  the  life  of  grace,  and  pre- 
paring you  for  your  life  of  faith  on  earth,  and  for 
your  reward  before  the  eternal  throne.  Who,  then, 
has  made  you  to  differ  from  others  but  the  Father 
of  lights,  by  Whose  will  you  are  what  you  are  ? 

Such  are  Christians  in  the  world;  and  such 
ought,  above  all,  to  be  the  Catholics  of  England. 
They  have  been  preserved  by  a  singular  election  of 
grace.  While  the  whole  nation  fell  away  from  the 
unity  of  the  faith,  or  were  driven  by  bitter  and  re- 
lentless persecution  from  the  land,  a  handful,  few  in 
number  and  hid  out  of  sight,  was  preserved.  The 
line  of  the  faith  has  never  been  broken ;  its  light 
has  never  been  diminished ;  the  whole  revelation  of 
God,  the  whole  word  of  truth  by  which  we  are  born 
again,  has  been  preserved  inviolate.  The  Catholic 
Church  in  England,  pure  in  its  faith,  theology,  dis- 
cipline, devotions,  hierarchy,  priesthood,  jurisdic- 
tion, is  not  only  perfect  as  it  was  before  the  havoc 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM.  418 

of  three  hundred  years  ago,  not  only  identical,  line 
for  line,  truth  for  truth,  feature  for  feature j  with  the 
faith  of  St.  Augustine  of  Canterbury — which  was  the 
faith  of  St.  Gregory  and  of  the  Catholic  world  at 
that  time — hut  it  has  advanced  in  perfection  and  in 
the  unfolding  of  its  spiritual  life  with  the  growth  of 
the  Catholic  Church  to  this  day. 

And  while  the  Church  in  England  has  been  ris- 
ing again  in  all  the  fulness  and  completeness  of  its 
faith,  the  Christianity  of  England  has  been  steadily 
declining.  The  old  religious  tradition  has  been  dying 
out.  Worldliness,  indifference,  materialism,  are 
spreading  fast.  Nevertheless  in  what  remains,  I  am 
thankful  to  know  how  much  Christian  belief,  Chris- 
tian morality,  personal  goodness,  piety,  generosity, 
justice,  zeal,  self-denial,  uprightness  of  conscience, 
and  fidelity  to  duty,  may  still  be  found.  God  knows 
I  would  rather  believe  it  to  be  more  than  to  be  less. 
It  is  a  profound  sorrow  to  believe  that  the  palmer- 
worm  and  the  canker-worm  have  been  eating  away 
the  Christianity  of  England,  and  that  the  vineyard 
which  once  was  so  luxuriant  in  leaf  and  fruit  is 
now  half  barren  and  bare.  I  have  a  heartfelt  and 
continual  sorrow  for  the  divisions  and  desolations  of 
England ;  for  the  wreck  which,  year  by  year,  has  been 
made  before  our  eyes  in  all  that  remained  of  the 


414  ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM. 

surviving  Christianity  of  our  civil  state ;  for  the  un- 
belief, rationalism,  scepticism,  distress,  and  despair 
which  pervades  our  private  life,  and  is  extinguishing 
the  faith  and  the  hope  of  multitudes. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  stands  the  Catholic 
Church,  immutable  and  stedfast  in  truth,  encom- 
passed by  a  flood  of  errors.  The  speedy  downward 
stream  of  unbelief  has  no  power  over  it.  All  is  run- 
ning to  seed  around  it,  but  its  fruit  never  withers. 
It  holds,  teaches,  and  believes  the  Creed  of  Nicsea 
and  of  Constantinople,  of  Lyons  and  Lateran,  of 
Trent  and  of  the  Vatican,  without  wavering,  or  ex- 
plaining away  of  jot  or  tittle. 

And  it  is  not  only  in  its  internal  and  intellectual 
unity  that  it  stands  in  contrast  with  the  fragmentary, 
conflicting,  and  dissolving  religions  of  England.  In 
the  midst  of  the  disunion,  the  disintegration,  the 
crumbling  away  of  religious  systems,  its  visible  unity 
stands  out  definite  and  changeless.  The  voice  of  its 
authority  is  firm,  just,  and  temperate  ;  and  the  ans- 
wer of  obedience  is  prompt,  glad,  and  complete. 
Why  are  we  not  torn  and  divided  by  ritualisms  and 
appeals,  parties  and  protests  against  bishops  ?  We 
are  men  and  Englishmen,  and  not  Saints.  We  have 
a  fund  of  contention  in  us  on  all  things  outside  the 
sanctuary — sometimes  even  for  things  not  far  from 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM.  415 

it.  But  it  all  passes  away.  And  the  holy  Mass 
goes  on  the  same  to-day  as  yesterday ;  and  to-mor- 
row it  will  be  as  to-day.  Why  is  this,  but  that  the 
light  and  instinct  of  faith  is  mightier  than  all  hu- 
man wills,  and  we  gladly  submit  all  private  opinions 
and  claims  to  an  authority  we  know  to  be  divine  ? 
Surely  this  '  multitude  of  peace'  is  a  supernatural 
inheritance,  and  of  unspeakable  price. 

And,  farther,  there  is  on  every  side  a  restless,  tur- 
bulent swaying  to  and  fro  of  minds,  like  the  waves  of 
a  troubled  sea.  From  every  part  we  hear  one  cry : 
'  What  is  truth  ?  Where  is  it  to  be  found  ?  By 
what  test  can  it  be  known  ?  Is  there  nowhere  any 
certainty  about  doctrines,  about  revelation,  about 
Scripture,  about  Christianity,  about  the  distinctions 
of  right  and  wrong,  about  the  freedom  of  the  will, 
about  the  nature  of  the  soul,  about  the  existence  of 
God  ?'  The  whole  idea  of  certainty  is  obscured,  the 
principle  of  certainty  is  rejected,  the  possibility  of 
certainty  is  denied.  Not  only  truths  of  the  super- 
natural, but  of  the  natural  order  are  held  as  doubt- 
ful, or  set  aside  as  impossible  of  proof.  This  plague 
of  doubt  is  spreading  steadily  through  multitudes  who 
hold  fast  by  Christianity,  but  are  daily  becoming  con- 
scious of  the  illogical  and  incoherent  basis  on  which 
the  Reformation  has  placed  them.  In  these  last 


416  ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM. 

twenty  years,  more  in  number  than  I  can  count  who 
remain,  and  probably  always  will  remain,  out  of  the 
true  fold,  have  told  me  of  the  pain  and  burden  of 
doubt  and  of  uncertainty  which  continually  weighs 
upon  them.  Others  again,  and  they  too  are  many, 
whom  I  remember  full  of  Christian  belief  in  days 
gone  by,  now  believe  nothing.  Doubt  has  done  its 
work  upon  them.  It  has  stolen  away  their  faith, 
and  left  them  without  Christ  and  without  God  in 
the  world. 

Such  is  our  modern  England.  And  who  has 
made  you  to  differ  ?  Why  are  you  calm  and  certain 
in  your  faith,  and  not  in  faith  only,  but  in  philo- 
sophy, in  the  truths  not  of  the  supernatural  order 
alone,  but  of  the  natural  order  likewise  ?  It  is  not 
intellectual  superiority,  or  power,  or  culture ;  far 
from  it.  Quoniam  litteraturam  non  cognovi,  intro- 
ibo  in  potentias  Domini.  Though  we  may  have  but 
a  slender  literary  culture,  we  have  entered  into  the 
powers  of  the  Lord.  The  divine  tradition  of  the 
faith  is  under  our  feet  as  a  foundation  of  immovable 
truth ;  the  divine  voice  of  the  Church  is  the  guide 
of  our  reason,  confirming  it  with  a  certainty  there- 
fore divine,  not  only  in  the  truths  of  revelation, 
but  also  in  the  truths  of  nature.  We  are  indeed 
unintelligible  to  the  men  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIKLOOM.  417 

We  are  dogmatic,  impracticable,  one-sided,  un- 
conciliating,  irreconcilable ;  for  between  faith  and 
doubt,  certainty  and  scepticism,  there  can  be  not  only 
no  understanding,  but  not  even  a  truce.  The  sceptics 
have  had  their  day ;  and,  what  is  worse,  the  sophists 
are  coming.  An  honest  doubter  is  to  be  pitied;  but 
a  sophist  is  an  enemy  of  human  society.  The  philo- 
sophy of  contradictions  and  of  paradox  is  the  lowest 
state  of  the  human  reason.  To  be  in  doubt,  but  to 
be  in  earnest,  is  to  be  respectable ;  but  to  trifle  with 
both  truth  and  error  is  a  treason  against  the  intel- 
ligence and  the  dignity  of  man.  Such,  however,  is 
the  world  in  which  we  live,  sheltered  from  its  taint 
by  the  Catholic  tradition  of  faith  and  certainty. 

You,  then,  ought  indeed  to  be  the  first-fruits  of 
Christian  fidelity  and  Christian  maturity  in  England. 
The  memory  of  martys  and  confessors  from  whom  you 
are  descended,  and  of  the  great  deeds  and  great  suffer- 
ings of  your  Catholic  lineage,  or  of  the  grace,  not 
less  than  miraculous,  which  has  brought  you  out  of 
darkness  into  this  marvellous  light,  and  out  of  the 
turbulent  sea  of  doubt  to  the  immovable  solidity  of 
the  Church  of  God — all  this  ought  to  inspire  you 
with  an  ardent  zeal  to  be  not  in  word  and  in  name, 
but  in  deed  and  in  truth,  the  first-fruits  of  faith  ill 
this  land. 

EE 


418  ET.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM. 

But  what  I  say  to  you  as  Catholics,  I  say  also  to 
you  still  more  as  Catholic  students.  While  England 
\s  as  Catholic,  it  formed  many  a  school  of  Christian 
science  and  cultivation  :  above  all,  it  created  two  which 
were  called  the  eyes  or  the  lights  of  England — the 
Universities  of  Oxford  and  of  Cambridge.  They 
were  Catholic  in  faith,  in  science,  in  philosophy,  in . 
literature,  in  discipline,  in  morals.  They  were  the 
first-fruits  of  the  intellectual  culture  of  Catholic  Eng- 
land. Our  Patron  and  Father  St.  Edmund,  having 
been  formed  in  the  University  of  Paris,  introduced 
the  study  of  Aristotle  into  Oxford.  He  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  mental  science  which  came  down  as  an 
unbroken  tradition  until  the  other  day.  The  Catholic 
University  of  Paris,  infected  and  corrupted  by  secular 
and  royal  influences,  was  swept  away  by  the  atheistic 
revolution  of  the  last  century.  The  University  of 
France  has  taken  its  place,  claiming  for  the  state  the 
intellectual  supremacy  and  guidance  of  men  which 
belongs  to  the  divine  commission  of  the  -Church. 
The  intellectual  and  moral  condition  of  France  bears 
witness  to  the  deadly  evils  of  this  fatal  change.  In 
England,  the  downward  movement  has  been  slower, 
but  it  is  now  racing  in  -speed.  Three  hundred  years 
ago,  Oxford  rejected  the  faith  and  the  theology  of  St. 
Edmund,  but  retained  the  philosophy  he  had  taught. 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM.  419 

« 

It  still  blazoned  its  sacred  legend:  Domimts  illu- 
minatio  mea.  Aristotle  was  studied  as  the  philo- 
sopher of  the  natural  order;  and  Christianity,  broken 
indeed,  but  still  honoured,  was  taught  as  a  revela- 
tion of  the  supernatural.  But  that  exists  no  longer. 
St.  Edmund's  faith  went  first,  and  was  replaced  by  a 
mutilated  creed.  St.  Edmund's  mental  science  is 
now  gone,  and  is  replaced  by  a  philosophy  of  which 
its  promoters  acknowledge,  that  no  student  can  master 
it  without  doubting  of  the  foundations  of  faith.  That 
which  was  given  for  the  confirmation  of  faith  is  now 
the  gangrene  which  eats  all  faith  away.13 

And  if  such  be  the  intellectual  state,  what  is  ths 
moral  ?  High  and  friendly  authorities  have  told 
us,  that  in  every  hundred  students,  seventy  so  pass 
through  Oxford  that  they  cannot  be  said  to  be  stu- 
dents :  that  is  to  say,  the  moral  discipline  fails  to 
obtain  from  them  such  industry  and  conscientious 
study  as  to  educate  their  minds.  This  relaxation  is 
not  so  much  in  the  intellect  as  in  the  will ;  and  the 
will  is  relaxed,  because  the  collegiate  and  personal 
discipline  and  moral  guidance  of  the  students  is  fee- 
ble or  powerless.  What  wonder,  then,  if  the  other 
day  the  ancient  Commemoration  of  the  University  was 
so  dishonoured  by  uproar,  that  it  must  either  cease 

"  Fca  Note  at  p.  425. 


420  ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM. 

» 

to  be,  or  migrate  to  some  shelter  from  its  own  sub- 
jects ?  To  all  who  cherish  the  old  memories  of  Oxford, 
as  bearing  the  first-fruits  of  the  youth  and  the  culture 
of  England,  these  things  are  profoundly  sad.  They 
are  indications  of  a  decline  which  will  make  itself 
felt  hereafter.  Our  national  character  is  losing  its 
grave  dignity.  The  great  school  of  respect  for  au- 
thority and  for  the  rights  of  other  men  is  the  Catholic 
Church.  Its  Universities  had  a  tradition  of  gravity 
and  self-restraint,  of  dignity  and  order,  which  long 
survived  the  faith  from  which  they  sprung.  But 
these  too  are  going,  if  not  already  gone.  St.  Ed- 
mund would  not  find  in  Oxford  the  vestige  of  the 
University  he  loved.  In  the  midst  of  its  medieval 
splendours,  the  intellectual  and  moral  anarchy  of  the 
nineteenth  century  has  made  its  home. 

These  things  I  have  said  to  awaken  in  you  an- 
other motive  of  thankfulness.  You  are  here  under 
the  patronage,  and,  I  may  say,  in  the  home  of  St. 
Edmund.  You  have  his  faith,  his  theology,  his  men- 
tal science,  his  secular  studies,  his  devotions,  his  dis- 
cipline of  spiritual  perfection ;  the  same  sacraments, 
the  same  litanies  and  prayers,  the  same  loving  adora- 
tion of-  the  Passion  of  our  Eedeemer,  the  same  filial 
piety  to  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God.  If  the  Oxford  of 
St.  Edmund  exists  on  earth,  it  is  here.  The  Catho- 


ST.  EDMUND'S  ^HEIRLOOM.  421 

lie  Church,  which  created  Oxford,  has  reproduced  it 
in  this  place.  The  germ  is  small,  indeed,  hut  it  is 
perfect  in  its  type.  In  England  at  this  time  there  are 
some  twelve  or  fourteen  colleges  or  schools,  which  in 
the  last  hundred  years  the  Church  has  created.  They 
are  all  of  one  and  the  same  type,  transmitting  whole 
and  perfect  the  tradition  of  Catholic  faith  and  Catho- 
lic culture,  reproducing  what  St.  Edmund  studied  and 
practised  at  Paris  and  at  Oxford.  If  these  first- 
fruits  of  the  poverty  and  fidelity  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  now  dispersed  all  over  England,  were  con- 
gregated in  one  place,  there  would  he  no  unworthy 
picture  of  the  Oxford  which  St.  Edmund  knew. 

All  these  treasures  of  our  Catholic  inheritance 
God  has  preserved  and  renewed  to  us ;  and  upon  this 
firm  hase  are  huilt  up  the  studies  and  the  sciences 
which  from  age  to  age  the  Christian  progress  of  rea- 
son and  culture  has  attained.  We  are  ever  moving 
onward  in  natural  and  human  knowledge,  ever  im- 
mutahle  in  the  science  of  God.  You  therefore,  as 
Catholics  and  as  Catholic  students,  have  a  twofold 
motive  for  thanksgiving  and  for  fidelity. 

You  have  also  a  twofold  duty. 

1.  The  first  is,  to  offer  to  God  the  first-fruits  of 
your  natural  gifts.  You  owe  to  Him  the  hest  faculties 
of  your  intellect,  and  the  hest  energies  of  your  will. 


422  ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM. 

These  were  given  to  you  to  be  given  back  to  His 
service;  and  that,  not  grudgingly  nor  with  reserves, 
but  with  all  your  sincerity  and  all  your  strength.  You 
owe  to  Him  the  industry  of  your  boyhood,  and  the 
fresh  vigour  of  your  youth.  Idleness,  self-indulgence, 
squandering  of  time,  waste  of  your  mental  and  moral 
powers,  are  unworthy  of  those  who  are  called  to  the 
perfect  light  of  faith,  and  formed  by  the  discipline  of 
His  grace  t'o  be  the  first-fruits  of  His  Church. 

Remember  that  laborare  est  orare.  Your  studies 
are  a  part  of  your  service  to  God.  You  are  studying 
for  Him.  An  idle  youth  is  like  a  mildewed  ear  in 
the  harvest-field.  Be  punctual  to  the  hours  of  the 
day.  Be  prompt  at  the  sound  of  the  bell.  Put 
your  whole  strength  into  what  you  are  about.  Lan- 
guid studies,  roving  eyes,  wandering  thoughts,  tasks 
done  in  haste,  careless  learning  speciously  covered 
over,  these  things  are  infidelities  to  the  Spirit  of 
Grace.  We  study  as  much  with  our  will  as  with 
our  intellect,  and  with  our  conscience  as  much  as 
with  our  will.  The  good  and  faithful  servant  traded 
to  the  utmost  with  his  lord's  money.  Whether 
you  be  destined  for  the  world  or  for  the  altar,  St. 
Edmund  is  your  example.  Even  as  a  layman,  he 
spent  half  his  time  in  prayer.  When  he  exchanged 
the  secular  for  the  sacred  sciences,  he  sought  his 


ST.  EDMUND'S  HEIRLOOM.  423 

illumination  more  from  God  than  from  books.  But 
he  is  a  household  name  and  image  and  tradition 
with  you.  His  boyhood,  youth,  and  manhood,  his 
unsullied  purity,  his  filial  piety  to  the  mother  who 
formed  him  for  God,  his  zeal  and  .tenderness  as  a 
priest,  his  invincible  fortitude  as  a  Bishop  of  the 
Church  of  God :  all  these  are  before  you  as  your 
light,  encouragement,  and  strength. 

2.  You  owe  also  to  God  the  first-fruits  of  your 
grace.  Some  will  give  to  Him  the  fresh  and  radiant  of- 
fering of  their  baptismal  innocence  ;  others  will  offer 
the  humility  and  self -chastisement  of  penance;  or 
the  fortitude  and  hardness  of  good  soldiers  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  or  the  love  and  fervour  of  self-sacrifice  in  a 
life  of  labour  for  souls.  Give  yourselves  to  Him 
•who  gave  Himself  for  you.  Be  generous,  and  He 
will  not  be  outdone  in  generosity.  He  will  add  to 
you  grace  for  grace,  and  sanctify  you  wholly.  And 
when  the  great  harvest-homo  is  gathered  upon  the 
eternal  hills,  He  will  offer  you  before  the  Throne  as 
the  first-fruits  of  His  most  precious  Blood. 


NOTE. 

I  HOPE  that  I  have  not  used  a  word  in  tliis  sermon  re- 
specting the  University  of  Oxford  which  cannot  be  ju."- 
tified  by  abundant  evidence,  beyond  the  reach  of  all 
objection.  The  present  state  of  Oxford,  both  for  its 
own  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  country  at  large,  can- 
not fail  to  be  a  cause  of  sorrow  and  anxiety,  in  which, 
for  manifold  reasons,  I  heartily  share.  The  authorities 
on  which  I  have  relied  are,  Dr.  Pattison,  the  Rector  of 
Lincoln  College,  in  his  Suggestions  on  Academical  Or- 
ganisation, with  especial  reference  to  Oxford;  and  Mr. 
Goldwin  Smith,  in  his  Reorganisation  of  the  University 
of  Oxford,  together  with  the  evidence  of  Mr.  Appleton 
and  Canon  Liddon,  before  the  Lords'  Committee  on  Uni- 
versity Tests,  in  February  last. 

The  Eector  of  Lincoln  states,  that  fully  seventy  per 
cent  of  the  so-called  '  students'  at  Oxford  are  in  no  sense, 
even  in  profession,  students  at  all.  He  adds,  that  the  de- 
grees gained  by  such  men  denote-  no  grade  of  intellectual 
cultivation.  He  describes  them  as  '  the  wealthy,  luxurious, 
indolent,  and  uninterested  tenants  of  college  rooms.'  '  If 
any  proof  could  convince  the  advocates  of  intramural  re- 


426  NOTE. 

sidence  of  the  futility  of  college  discipline,  such  a  proof 
might  be  found  in  the  mastery  which  the  athletic  furor 
has  established  over  all  minds  in  this  place.  So  entirely 
are  the  tutors  beaten  by  it,  that  to  cover  the  disgrace  of 
defeat,  they  are  obliged  to  affect  to  patronise  and  encour- 
age the  evil.  I  know,  therefore,  that  011  this  head  I  must 
look  for  no  sympathy  from  college  tutors.  .  .  .  They  [i.  e. 
cricket,  boating,  and  athletics]  have  ceased  to  be  amuse- 
ments :  they  are  organised  into  a  system  of  serious  occu- 
pation. What  we  call  incapacity  in  young  men  is  often 
no  more  than  an  incapacity  of  attention  to  learning,  be- 
cause the  mind  is  preoccupied  with  a  more  urgent  and 
all-absorbing  call  upon  its  energies.  As  soon  as  the  sum- 
mer weather  sets  in,  the  colleges  are  disorganised.  Study, 
even  the  pretence  of  it,  is  at  an  end.  Play  is  thencefor- 
ward the  only  thought.  They  are  playing  all  day,  pre- 
paring for  it,  or  refreshing  themselves  after  its  fatigues.' 
P.  316. 

I  willingly  pass  over  graver  moral  subjects,  on  which 
Dr.  Pattiaon  and  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith  enlarge.  The  latter 
says :  '  To  revive  the  faculty  of  theology,  though  of  the 
utmost  importance  in  what  may  be  truly  called  a  fearful 
crisis  of  religious  faith,  would  at  the  same  time  be  most  dif- 
ficult. Anglicanism,  as  I  have  said  before,  has  developed 
no  theology  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term.  .  .  The  diffi- 
culty would  cease,  if  either  the  world  would  consent  to 
receive  back  the  authoritative  theology  of  Suarez  and  the 
other  Catholic  Doctors,  or  decide  that  theological  inquiry 
shall  be  free.' 

The  Eector   of  Lincoln   also   says  :    '  The  faculty  of 


NOTE.  427 

theology  must  be  considered  in  abeyance  at  present. 
There  is  indeed  a  scientific  theology,  and  in  the  Chris- 
tian records  of  the  early  and  later  ages  the  amplest  mate- 
rial for  various  learning  and 'Critical  investigation.  But 
theology  has  not  yet  begun  to  exist  as  a  science  among 
us.'  P.  319. 

As  to  the  results  of  the  Oxford  system  of  study  on 
those  who  may  be  regarded  as  students,  Dr.  Pattison  says  : 
'As  mental  training,  it  is  surely  most  unsound.  It  cannot 
be  called  philosophical.  It  is  rhetoric  expended  upon  phi- 
losophical subjects.  It  is  the  reappearance  in  education 
of  the  <so<piaTix.rt  of  the  schools  of  Greece,  condemned  by 
all  the  wise.  ...  In  the  schools  of  Oxford  is  now  taught 
in  perfection  the  art  of  writing  leading  articles.'  P.  295. 
Again,  he  says  :  '  For  my  own  part,  I  think  the  fears  of 
the  Catholic  party,  whether  within  or  without  the  national 
Establishment,  are  substantially  well-founded.'.  ...  'To 
the  Catholic  youth,  the  conclusions  he  is  taught  come  re- 
commended by  the  "  authority"  of  the  teachers,  and  of  the 
Church.  To  our  students,  the  conclusions  taught  come 
recommended  for  adoption  by  the  authority  of  fashion,  or 
the  current  turn  of  thinking  living  philosophical  minds, 
and  of  the  prevailing  philosophical  literature.'  He  goes 
on  to  say :  nevertheless,  that  they  do  not  sufficiently  re- 
quire of  the  student  to  place  himself  in  a  position  of  abso- 
lute scepticism  about  everything.  But  he  affirms  that  tho 
Examination  must  'come  into  conflict  with  any  system 
which,  proposes  to  provide  a  priori  conclusions  in  any 
branch  of  knowledge  relating  to  tho  nature  of  man  and 
society.  Any  system  or  corporation  which  supposes  itself 


428  KOTE. 

to  be  in  possession  of  such  propositions,  may  propose  them 
to  its  pupils  as  true,  and  require  their  acceptance  on  the 
authority  of  the  teacher.  The  Eoman  Catholic  Church 
does  suppose  and  profess  this.'  P.  300. 

Mr.  Appleton,  before  the  Lords'  Committee,  spoke  as 
follows.  After  saying  that  there  are,  at  any  given  mo- 
ment, in  the  University  '  three  hundred  men  who  are 
brought  under  the  influence  of  the  philosophy  of  modern 
times,  which  might,  and  which  does,'  as  he  thinks,  '  mate- 
rially undermine  all  existing  beliefs,'  adds  :  '  I  think  it 
quite  impossible  for  any  man  to  throw  himself  into  the 
system  of  education  for  the  final  classical  school  at  Ox- 
ford, at  the  present  time,  as  so  much  knowledge,  but 
really  to  assimilate  it — I  mean  not  only  to  study  it  al> 
extra  —  without  having  the  whole  edifice  of  belief  shaken 
to  the  very  foundation.'  Qu.  490. — 'He-  returns  to  a 
new  construction  of  belief  after  he  has  gone  through  the 
period  of  criticism  and  scepticism.'  '  I  should  say.  Hegel's 
Philosophy  of  History  is  read  as  carefully  as  Aristotle.' 
'  At  this  moment  there  are  lectures  being  given,  or  about 
to  be,  in  Oxford,  on  Hegel's  Logic,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  revolutionary  instruments  that  has  ever  been  in- 
vented.' Qu.  506. — '  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  man  who  has 
criticised  all  ideas  for  several  years,  and  then  is  called 
upon  to  sign  a  test,  and  state  his  bond- fide  adhesion  to 
certain  propositions,  is  led  naturally  to  avert  his  mrnd 
from  any  consideration  of  those  questions  at  all,  because 
they  now  involve  a  contradiction;  and  by  instinctively 
making  both  terms  of  the  contradiction  vague,  he  is  able 
to  reconcile  them  better.  There  is  no  set  purpose  in  all 


NOTE.  429 

tliis;  it  takes  place  almost  unconsciously.'  Qu.  524. — 'I 
believe  the  upsetting  of  his  beliefs,  and  the  entire  loosen- 
ing of  them  from  all  their  moorings,  is  an  inevitable  con- 
sequence of  the  system  of  education  which  now  exists  in 
Oxford.'  Qu.  527. — Being  asked,  'Do  you  attribute 
this  tone  of  thought,  which  has  risen  up  so  prominently 
in  Oxford,  to  Jhe  study  of  Aristotle  ?'  he  answers : 
'  Scarcely  at  all.  It  arises  mainly  from  a  closer  connec- 
tion between  England  and  the  Continent.  It  is  really  a 
wave  of  thought  which  has  come  over  from  Germany.' 
Qu.  5G1. 

It  is  therefore  not  surprising  to  read :  '  Xo  theology 
of  any  school  is  much  read  at  Oxford.  The  study  has 
been  entirely  uprooted  by  the  action  of  tests.'  Qu.  559. 

We  may  sum  up  this  evidence  with  the  personal  tes- 
timony of  Canon  Liddon,  who  said :  '  Cases  have  come 
within  my  own  experience  of  men  who  have  come  up 
from  school  as  Christians,  and  have  been  earnest  Chris- 
tians up  to  the  time  of  beginning  to  read  philosophy  for 
the  final  school,  but  who,  during  the  year  and  a  half  or 
two  years  employed  in  this  study,  have  surrendered,  first 
their  Christianity,  and  next  their  belief  in  God,  and  have 
left  the  University  not  believing  in  a  Supreme  Being.' 
Qu.  706. 

The  intellectual  and  moral  agencies  which  caused  the 
mournful  anarchy  of  the  last  Oxford  Commemoration  are 
here  abundantly  revealed.  It  is  time  that  all  to  whom 
our  national'  name  and  fame  and  character  are  dear 
should  return  upon  their  steps,  ct  antigiiam  cxquirero 
Mat  r  em. 


430  NOTE. 

The  Holy  Sec  and  the  Bishops  of  England  have  warned 
all  Catholic  parents,  that  to  send  their  sons  to  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  is  to  expose  them  to  the  loss  of  their  faith. 
The  parents  who  so  act  are  guilty  of  grave  sin  before 
God. 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


AAEON,  the  true,  8. 

Abel,  9,  369. 

Absolution,  facility  of,  217. 

Adam,  the  first,  404  ;  the  Second, 
9,  369,  405. 

Agnes,  feast  of  St.,  303. 

Agony  of  death,  105. 

Aidan,  St.,  234,  256. 

Alban,  abbey  of  St.,  127. 

All-Hallows  College,  355. 

Alphonsus,  St.,  a  witness  for  God, 
202 ;  his  freedom  from  sin,  203 ; 
his  innocence,  his  mother,  205 ; 
his  hatred  of  sin,  206  ;  his  zeal 
against  sin,  his  custody  of  the 
senses,  208 ;  his  writings,  209  ; 
ordinations  of,  211;  his  semin- 
ary, 213  ;  his  love  of  sinners, 
215 ;  his  Moral  Theology,  217 ; 
on  bad  books,  219 ;  on  the  oc- 
casions of  sin,  221 ;  his  power 
over  souls,  223  ;  enmity  of  the 
world  against,  225. 

Amalfi,  223. 

Ambrose,  St.,  320. 

America,  151. 

Anglicanism,  149,  255,  326. 

Anselm,  St.,  132. 

Antoninus,  St.,  320. 

Apocalypse,  31. 

Apostles,  8, 10, 120,  201,  242,  327. 

Aquinas,  St.  Thomas,  325. 

Arianism,  176. 


Aristotle,  419. 

Armenian  Church,  118. 

Assistance,  divine,  247. 

Atheism,  323. 

Augustin,  St.,  of  Canterbury,  413. 

Angustin,  St.,  of  Hippo,  119,  205, 

242. 

Authority,  249. 
Avranches,  152. 

BAPTISM,  11,  248,  311,  407,  411. 
Barbary,  49,  98. 
Beatitudes,  the  eight,  409. 
Becanceld,  Council  of,  130. 
Bede,  St.,  186,  238. 
Belief,  duty  of,  24. 
Berghamsted,  Council  of,  130. 
Bishops  of  the  Church,   12,   18, 

153. 
Blood,  the  Precious,  25,  78,  113, 

122,  208,  216, 252, 366. 
Body  of  Christ,  9. 
Bonard,  PSre,  374. 
Boniface,  St.,  383,  392. 
Books,  bad,  219. 
Boulogne,  Dean  of,  144. 

CAIN,  369. 

Calvary,  101,  122,  189,  245. 
Calvin,  332. 

Cambridge,  University  of,  418. 
Canterbury,  St.  Angustin  of,  413 ; 
St.  Thomas  of,  123. 

FP 


434 


INDEX. 


Cardinals',,  41. 

Certainty,  415. 

Charity,  Sisters  of,  46,  50,  55,  75, 
86,  101. 

Charlemagne,  capitularies  of,  128. 

Charles  Borromeo,  St.,  63,  162, 
198,  213,  226,  337. 

Chatillon,  49. 

Christendom,  39,  48,  88, 121, 135, 
146,  151. 

Christianity  of  England,  372, 413. 

Church,  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the, 
5 ;  presence  of  the  Spirit  in,  7 ; 
the  illumination  of,  9 ;  infalli- 
ble voice  of,'ll,  18,  31,  33,  72, 
164,  173,  191,  233,  247,  310, 
325;  test  of  the  presence  of, 
13;  Eome  the  centre  of,  15, 
273  ;  separation  from,  17 ;  Je- 
sus speaking  in,  19 ;  divine 
doctrines  of,  20  ;  hatred  of,  22 ; 
duty  of  obedience  to,  24,  327  ; 
five  liberties  of,  126  ;  beauty  of, 
233  ;  faith  required  by,  241. 

Clarendon,  Constitutions  of,  137, 
141,  143. 

Claver,  St.  Peter,  395. 

Clement  XIV.,  Pope,  224. 

Cletus,  Pope  St.,  14. 

Comprehension,  178. 

Comte,  philosophy  of,  322. 

Conception,  the  Immaculate,  19, 
29. 

Concordats,  41. 

Conferences  of  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul,  72. 

Consciousness,  177. 

Conversion  of  the  heathen,  347, 
386. 

Corea,  376. 

Corpus  Christi,  feast  of,  163. 

Councils,  133,  247,  327,  328 ;  of 
Constantinople,  414  ;  of  Flor- 
ence, 187  ;  of  Nicnea,  414 ;  of 
Lateran,  414  ;  of  Lyons,  414 ; 


of  Trent,  21,  23,  42,  51,  179, 
326-;  of  the  Vatican,  414. 

Critical  spirit,  327. 

Cromwell,  30. 

Croyland,  Roger  of,  145 

Cuthbert,  St.,  256. 

DAVID,  6. 

Daniel,  words  of,  111. 
Decline  of  Christianity,  413. 
Deference  to  theologians,  330. 
Devotion  to  the  Saints,  328. 
Disciples  of  Jesus,  327. 
Distinctions,  national,  39. 
Divorce,  150. 
Docetae,  173. 
Docility,  signs  of,  328. 
Doctrines  of  the  Church,  20. 
Dogma,  immutability  of,  187. 
Dorie,  PSre,  376. 
Doubt,  416. 
Drunkenness,  372. 
Duty  of  belief,  24. 

EDMUXD  of  Canterbury,  St.,  in- 
telligence of,  311 ;  his  purity, 
union  of  all  science  in,  313 ;  as 
a  layman,  314 ;  habits  of,  315 ; 
vision  of,  315 ;  writings  of, 
316 ;  his  gift  of  science,  318 ; 
his  truth  and  sweetness,  320 ; 
his  love  of  Scripture,  337 ;  rap- 
ture of,  339 ;  introduced  the 
study  of  Aristotle  into  Oxford, 
418. 

Education,  Catholic,  290. 

Emmaus,  179. 

England,  corrupt  civilisation  of, 
351 ;  responsibility  of,  371 ;  re- 
ligious disunion  of,  27 ;  in 
closer  relations  with  the  Holy 
See,  118 ;  the  liberties  of  the 
Church  violated  by  her  kings, 
136 ;  spiritual  destitution  of, 
150 ;  the  faith  spreading  in, 
194;  conversion  of,  274,  284; 


INDEX. 


435 


the  hierarchy  in,  280 ;  her  traf- 
fic in  slavery,  388  ;  the  Catho- 
lics of,  412  ;  the  Universities 
of,  418. 

Episcopate  of  the  Church,  12, 18, 
153. 

Erasmus,  332. 

Eternity,  178,  367. 

Eucharist,  the  holy,  20,  163,  168, 
172,  181. 

Ezekiel,  the  prophet,  57. 

FAITH,  supremacy  of,  290;  in- 
fallibility of,  169  ;  required  by 
the  Church,  241. 

Fear  of  God,  317. 

First-fruits,  402. 

Florence,  Council  of,  187. 

Formalism,  224. 

Fruits  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  409. 

France,  nomination  of  bishoprics 
in,  41 ;  the  rich  and  poor  in, 
43 ;  the  Revolution  in,  45  ;  se- 
minaries in,  51 ;  the  martyrs 
of,  55  ;  the  glory  of,  56,  353  ; 
baptisms  of  blood  in,  87  ;  the 
University  of,  418. 

Francis,  St.,  poverty  of,  45. 

GALLICANISJI,  85,  149. 

Gethsemani,  80,  189. 

Gedeon,  407. 

Gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  316. 

Glory,  accidental,  38,  55. 

Glories  of  Mary,  225. 

God,  the  Spirit  of,  3,  9,  18,  402, 
409 ;  the  Word  of,  5,  23,  32, 
163,  166,  401 ;  the  Church  of, 
10, 16,  417,  423  ;  the  Saints  of, 
29,  408 ;  consciousness  of,  177 ; 
the  truth  of,  238 ;  authority  of, 
249 ;  revelation  of,  313  ;  image 
of,  76,  365,  404;  will  of,  401. 

Grace,  the  Pilgrimage  of,  192. 

Greek  schism,  187. 


j  Gregory,  St.,  247,  413. 
Guide,  infallible,  6. 

HATKED  of  sin,  206. 
Heart  of  Jesus,  68,  345. 
Heirlooms  of  the  children  of  GoJ, 

411. 

Henry  II.  of  England,  126. 
Heresy,  errors  bordering  on,  187. 
Heretics,  madness  of,  243. 
Holiness,  way  of,  12. 
Hypostatic  union,  10. 

IGNATIUS,  St.,  30,  63,  384. 
Illumination,  9,  411. 
Immaculate  Conception,  the,  19, 

29. 

Image  of  God,  76,  365. 
Immutability  of  dogma,  187. 
Incarnation,  the,  5  ;  fulness  of,  8. 
Index  Expurgatorius,  220. 
Infallibility,  active  and  passive 

246 ;  of  faith,  169. 
Instinct,  247. 
Intellect,  335. 
Irenaeus,  St.,  131. 
Isaias,  4.        * 
Israel,  3,  233. 

JANSENISM,  224,  332. 
Jeremias,  403. 
Jerusalem,  3,  31,  232,  242. 
Jesus,  Society  of,  46,  48,  76. 
Job,  220. 

John  Nepomuc,  St.,  123. 
Joseph,  St.,  207. 
Josephism,  149. 
Judge  of  the  faith,  249. 
Judgment,  private,  28. 

KEYS,  power  of  the,  134 
Kingdom  of  God,  8,  14. 
Knowledge  of  God,  368. 

LATEEAN  Council,  414. 


436 


INDEX. 


Laurence,  St.,  123. 

Law  of  Christendom,  135. 

Laxity,  224. 

Liberties  of  the  Church,  126. 

Light,  prayer  for,  338. 

Linus,  St.,  14. 

Love  of  souls,  70. 

Lukewarmness,  205,  213. 

Luther,  332. 

Lyons,  Council  of,  414. 

MAGNIFICAT,  59. 

Martyrdom,  desire  of,  73. 

Martyrs  of  Paris,  374. 

Mary,  glories  of,  225  ;  home  of, 

273. 
Mary  Magdalen,    St.,   of  Pazzi, 

194. 

Matrimony,  Christian,  150. 
Mental  prayer,  335. 
Milan,  162. 
Mistrust  of  self,  333. 

NAPLES,  162. 

Nationalism,  39,  118,  149. 

Nations,  consent  of»  243. 

Nazareth,  5,  20. 

Nehemias,  263. 

Negroes,  conversion  of,  386  ;  sla- 
very of,  388 ;  despised  and  per- 
secuted, 387 ;  sufferings  of, 
389 ;  reparation  owed  to,  391. 

Nicaea,  Council  of,  414. 

Nicodemus,  169. 

Nineveh,  93. 

Northampton,  St.  Thomas  at,  142. 

Novelty,  fear  of,  331,  335. 

OBEDIENCE,  duty  of,  24. 
Oblation,  perfect,  396. 
Olier,  41,  53. 

Order,  the  supernatural,  324. 
Oxford,  University  of,  418,  420, 
423  n. 


PAEACLETE,  10. 

Paris,  Missionary  College  of,  374. 

Paul,  St.,  24,  182,  309,  321,  408. 

Paulinus,  St.,  186. 

Pentecost,  day  of,  7,  9,  18,  201, 

225,  244,  337. 
Peter  Claver,  St.,  395. 
Peter,  St.,  first  of  the  Apostles, 

13,  17,  170,  407. 
Penance,  sweetness  of,  217. 
Pharisees,  21. 
Philip  Neri,  St.,  330. 
Philosophy,  177,  323. 
Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  192. 
Pius  IX.,  16,  266,  269,  280,  287. 
Poland,  162. 

Pontiffs,  the  Sovereign,  17,  247. 
Pontigny,  St.  Thomas  at,  143. 
Prayer,  mental,  335. 
Priesthood,  50. 

RASHNESS,  331. 

Reason,  170. 

Reformation,  the,  147,  154,  324, 

416. 
Responsibility,  of  England,  371 ; 

of  the  rich,  85. 
Right  and  wrong,  41 5. 
Rigourism,  217. 
Roger  of  Croylaiid,  145. 
Rome,   centre   of  the  Universal 

Church,  14 ;  liberty  of  appeal 

to,  135  ;  love  of,  273,  290. 
Rosalie,  Sceur,  75. 
Rousseau,  322. 

SACEAMENT,  the  Blessed,  the  In- 
carnation perpetually  present, 
163 ;  the  centre  of  divine  facts 
and  operations,  165  ;  a  true  and 
personal  presence,  167 ;  the 
centre  of  divine  worship,  168 ; 
known  by  faith,  170 ;  our  food, 
172  ;  known  by  a  supernatural 


INDEX. 


437 


consciousness,  177 ;  adoredwith 
divine  worship,  181 ;  where  ab- 
sent, 188 ;  disciples  of,  194. 

Sacraments,  the  seven,  31,  164, 
181,  185,  188,  412. 

Sacrifice,  the  Holy,  186,  191, 
264. 

Saints,  the,  185,  330,  336. 

Sanctification,  9. 

Scepticism,  417. 

Schism,  the  Greek,  187. 

Scotland,  the  Vicars-Apostolic  in, 
28. 

Scripture,  Holy,  250,  336. 

Self-sufficiency,  331. 

Seminaries,  42,  51,  213. 

Sens,  St.  Thomas  at,  143. 

Sense,  170. 

Shepherd,  the  Good,  362. 

Slave-trade,  the,  388. 

Sin,  79;  zeal  against,  71,  207, 
211,  225. 

Sisters  of  Charity,  101. 

Sophists,  417. 

Soul  of  man,  76 ;  love  of,  67,  70. 

Stability  in  faith,  19. 

Suarez,  325. 

Submission  to  the  Church,  328. 

Sulpice,  St.,  Congregation  of, 
53. 

Suspension,  how  incurred,  213. 

TEMPTATIONS,  73. 

Tertullian,  240,  332. 

Thomas  Aquinas,  St.,  325. 

Thomas  of  Canterbury,  St.,  testi- 
mony of,  123  ;  hostility  against, 
124 ;  protest  of,  137  ;  isolation 
of,  140 ;  his  appeal  to  Home, 
142 ;  vision  of,  143  ;  his  death, 
145  ;  triumph  of,  147,  155. 

Toulouse,  46. 

Trent,  Council  of,  21,  23,  179. 

Truth,  divine  unity  of,  233;  peace 
generated  by,  238 ;  our  inheri- 


tance, 240;  authority  generated 
by,  249. 

ULTBAMONTANISM,  286. 

Unbelief,  28. 

Unction,  sacerdotal,  8,  309 ;  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  -28. 

Understanding,  319. 

Union,  hypostatic,  10. 

Unity,  craving  for,  237 ;  super- 
natural, 11,  243. 

Universities,  418. 

Ushaw,  257. 

VATICAN  Council,  414. 

Vicar  of  our  Lord,  120,  123,  252, 
273,  286. 

Vincent  de  Paul,  St.,  birth  of,  39, 
45 ;  France  in  the  time  of,  41 ; 
boyhood  of,  45 ;  simplicity  of, 
47 ;  foundation  of  his  Confra- 
ternity, 49  ;  the  Sisters  of  Cha- 
rity of,  50 ;  his  work  in  semi- 
naries, 51 ;  his  accidental  glory, 
55  ;  his  unconsciousness  of  self, 
59  ;  his  humility,  60  ;  his  con- 
fidence in  God,  62  ;  his  zeal  for 
souls,  71 ;  his  spiritual  trials, 
73 ;  his  dominant  passion,  75 ; 
his  consolations,  99  ;  sorrows, 
100;  bodily  sufferings,  102; 
peace  of,  104 ;  his  preparation 
for  death,  106;  his  last  words, 
110. 

Vision,  beatific,  37,  83,  408. 

Voltaire,  219,  322. 

WILL  and  intellect,  335 ;  of  God, 
401. 

Winfrid,  St.,  383,  392. 

Wiseman,  Cardinal,  boyhood  of, 
259,  272;  words  of  Pius  IX. 
about,  266 ;  studies  of,  272  ;  his 
idea  of  the  conversion  of  Eng- 
land, 274 ;  chosen  as  coadjutor, 
278  ;  mado  Cardinal,  280  ;  his 


438 


INDEX. 


veneration  for  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff,  286 ;  his  love  of  sinners, 
287;  his  testimony  to  the  su- 
premacy of  faith,  287 ;  his  writ- 
ings, 289, 292 ;  his  reserve,  293  ; 
his  humility,  295  ;  his  genero- 
sity, 296 ;  his  sufferings,  298. 


Word  of  God  Incarnate,  5,  1C3, 
166,  184,  192. 

YOKE,  city  of,  189. 

ZEAL  against  sin,  71,  207,  211, 
225. 


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